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THE PRISONER OF WAR 
IN GERMANY 



u1 




THE PRISONER OF WAR 
IN GERMANY 



THE CARE AND TREATMENT OF THE PRISONER 
OF WAR WITH A HISTORY OF THE DEVELOP- 
MENT OF THE PRINCIPLE OF NEUTRAL 
INSPECTION AND CONTROL 



BY 

daniel j. McCarthy, a.b., m.d. 

Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, University 
of Pennyslvania 




NEW YORK 
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 

1917 



HI 6 2' 7 



Copyright, 1917, by 
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY 



Published November, 1917 



DEC 22 1917 



©CI.A479645 



PEEFACE 

From the outbreak of the present war to the 
breaking of diplomatic relations, a period covering 
two and a half years, our State Department elab- 
orated and carried out an important piece of 
Work which received scant notice in the public 
prints. To our various embassies were delegated 
the care of the prisoners of war in Eussia, Ger- 
many, Austria, France and Great Britain. When, 
therefore, the Department gave ''leave to print" 
matters in relation to this work, I felt it a duty to 
present the problem in Germany, and its solution, 
in book form. 

This report is based upon a personal experience 
of several months' intimate contact, in an official 
position, with the problem involved. It might be 
said that it is, in simple language, a report of a 
survey of the Prisoner of War situation in Ger- 
many for the year 1916. 

The subject matter is based partly upon my 
own notes, from which later official reports were 
drawn up, partly upon official reports published 
in the Parliamentary White papers, and to a cer- 
tain extent upon confidential letters accompanying 
reports and explanatory of them (not published) . 
Eeports exist in corroboration of all incidents and 



PREFACE 

material presented, unless otherwise stated in the 
text. 

Statements made by prisoners, when not denied 
or contraverted by the German authorities, are 
here presented, as stated. I have received the 
reports made by the other attaches of the embassy 
at one time or other assigned to this work, i.e., 
Messrs. Jackson, Osborne, Dresel, Ohnesorg, Kus- 
sell, Webster, Taylor. 

I have, however, used none of the material of 
their reports. To Dr. Karl Ohnesorg I am in- 
debted for assistance in a personal way, in the 
use of his notes and translations of some of the 
matter in the Appendix, and without his aid and 
assistance this survey would not have been made 
nor this report submitted. I am equally indebted 
to Dr. A. E. Taylor for moral support. 

To write anything on the Prisoner of War situa- 
tion in Germany without giving credit, in the 
eventual analysis, for the ideas and ideals under- 
lying the principles of treatment of the problem 
to our ambassador to Germany, Mr. J. W. Gerard, 
would be falling far short of just appreciation. 
His fine sense of justice and fair dealing, his 
keen, almost automatic analysis of complicated 
situations, his open indignation of anything that 
savored of unjust or inhumane treatment, made 
him the ideal custodian of the rights of the Pris- 
oner of War. The German officials were some- 
what afraid of him because "they did not under- 
stand him, ' ' and they did not understand him for 



PREFACE 

the simple reason that he was not the usual type 
of diplomat. A master at differentiating facts 
from half facts and theory, with his case complete, 
he acted directly and without circumlocution or 
useless verbiage, demanding rather than request- 
ing a correction of evils in reference to the 
Prisoner of War situation. He often went direct 
to the camps himself to obtain at first hand in- 
formation with which to complete his case. In 
the game of delay and procrastination they found 
in him a queer type of ambassador who was not 
willing to be content with a protest but at unex- 
pected moments, until he secured results, restating 
his case and even after months of delay demand- 
ing redress. He stood, and always, at a hostile 
court an example of the best type of patriotic 
American, stood indeed for what this exemplifies 
— fair play and decent treatment for the helpless 
and oppressed. Without his support the efforts 
of the inspection of the Embassy for the Prisoner 
of War would have been futile and barren of re- 
sults, and the principles of neutral control would 
not have been developed to a principle of inter- 
national usage. 

I am indebted for much valuable aid in the prep- 
aration of material, analysis of reports, etc., to 
my secretary, Miss Julia Guillou. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VAGE 

I The Problem of the Prisoner of War . 1 

II The Army Corps and Their Prison Prob- 
lem 12 

III The Military Organization of the Pris- 

oner of War . ., . . . . . . .21 

IV Technique of Inspection 31 

V The Parent Camp 45 

VI The Camp at Friedrichsfeld .... 63 

VII The Camp at Minden 76 

yill Wittenberg and Other Plague Camps . 105 

IX Political Camps 121 

X Working Camps 136 

XI The Problem Involved in the Inspection 

of Working Camps . ., 169 

XII Camps for Officers 191 

XIII Camps for Civilians Interned .... 205 

XIV International Law as Applied to the 

Prisoner of War 227 

XV The Internment of Prisoners of War in 

Switzerland 252 

XVI Conclusions 263 

Appendices 271 

A. Housing and Feeding of Prisoners . 271 

B. The Officer Prisoner at Burg . . .275 

C. Regulations at Salzwedel .... 281 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

D. Regulations at Darmstadt . . .296 

E. Fire Drill at Darmstadt . . . .303 

F. Order of the Fire Watch. . . . .306 

G. Regulations of Barracks .... 309 

H. Hospital Regulations 312 

I. Internment of Sick and Wounded in 

Switzerland 316 

J. List of Diseases 322 

K. Regulations Concerning Administra- 
tion .324 

L. Orders for the Guard of Working 

Camps 332 

M. Report of Major C. B. Y. . . . 339 



THE ILLUSTRATIONS 

Mahometans in the camp at Zossen . . Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

English prisoners 4 

The littlest soldier prisoner 16 

Fumigating the clothes of prisoners ..... 32 

Camp laundry 40 

Map showing location of German prison camps . . 45 

A picture that tells its own story 50 

The guard with bayonet is always there .... 50 

"Camouflage" at Friedrichsfeld 64 

Censuring the mail at Friedrichsfeld .... 72 

An interesting pair of Serbian prisoners ... 88 

A group of negro prisoners 100 

Camp for Irish prisoners at Limburg .... 122 

A working camp 138 

Internment camp at Holzminden 138 

Censuring food packages in the camp at Doeberitz 154 

Prisoners employed at shoemaking 176 

English concentration camp at Ruhleben . . . 206 

"When will the war end?" 222 

Men, women and children in a hostile land . . . 222 



THE PRISONER OF WAR 
IN GERMANY 

CHAPTER I 

THE PBOBLEM OP THE PBIS0NEK OF WAE 

IN the general romance woven by the popular 
imagination around the subject of war, there 
is no more pathetic and appealing figure than that 
of the prisoner in the hands of the enemy. In 
order to stimulate the patriotism of the people, 
to create the proper atmosphere towards the 
enemy it is considered essential to attribute to 
him the faults of heartless cruelty, a lack of all 
humane principles, and to lay at his door the im- 
possible of all crimes, including rape, massacre 
and murder. One of the most eminent men in Ger- 
many made the statement that * ' all of the nations 
at war have gone crazy and of all of them un- 
questionably we (the Germans) are the craziest." 
It is certainly true that a nation at war loses that 
fine balance of judgement that the same nation in 
peace might ordinarily have. That a nation at 
war may present all the manifestations of hysteria 
in its conduct and mode of thinking has almost 

i 



2 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

been the rule of the nations involved in the pres- 
ent war. That peculiar quality of the hysteric, 
the hypersensitiveness to suggestion, is a predom- 
inating quality. The whole nation is willing to 
believe anything in the public prints and the public 
prints are willing to present to its readers any- 
thing that is presented to them, it matters little 
how absurd or incredible the matter may be. 
Tales of the heartless and ruthless murder of the 
wounded prisoner, of deliberate starvation, the 
lack of care, etc., early found their way into the 
newspapers of all the nations at war. While 
these tales produced a very definite sentiment 
against the enemy they at the same time created 
a decided feeling of worry on the part of that 
portion of the population whose relatives were in- 
cluded as prisoners of war in the hands of the 
enemy. 

A soldier who had been killed in action was 
mourned as a sacrifice on the altar of patriotism. 
Time, the great healer of such sorrow, eventually 
led the relatives from a condition of mourning to 
one of pride in their offering. The prisoner of 
war, on the other hand, while in the hands of the 
heartless and brutal enemy remained for months 
and even years a matter of continuing solicitude 
and worry on the part of all the relatives and an 
increasing rather than decreasing circle of 
friends. The effect the published tales of bru- 
tality on such a large part of the population in- 
terested in the prisoner of war sooner or later 



PROBLEM OF THE PRISONER OF WAR 3 

would lead to a demand to the Government that the 
condition of the prisoner should be ameliorated. 
One need only glance at the diplomatic corres- 
pondence between the British Foreign Office and 
the American Embassy during the first six months 
of the war to realize the very grave concern of 
the British Government concerning the care, treat- 
ment and fate of the British soldier, a prisoner in 
Germany. Urgent demands from the American 
Ambassador in Berlin in the early months of the 
war for clothing for both officers and men, with 
reports from prisoners who had escaped to Eng- 
land and Russia of harsh and brutal treatment 
both in the transport to the prison camps and 
within the camps, led his Majesty's Government 
to make protests to the American Embassy. This 
was followed later by an attempt to arrange some 
definite sort of inspection. On account of lack of 
food in some of the prison camps the German 
Government had agreed to accept food packages 
for the prisoners. At the suggestion of Mr. 
Chandler Anderson a request was made that cer- 
tain officers of the Quartermaster's Department of 
the United States of America be assigned to the 
Embassy at Berlin to control the distribution of 
food and clothing; nothing, however, came of 
this. From December 26, when this suggestion 
was first made, to March 17, when the German 
Government accepted the idea of inspection, this 
matter was the subject of repeated and urgent 
communications on the part of the British Foreign 



£ THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

Office, the American Embassy at London, at Ber- 
lin, and our own State Department. The Ger- 
man Government did not appear to take very 
much interest in the matter but was eventually 
forced to the general idea. 

As a counter proposition to the British sugges- 
tion, the Berlin Government, through the Ameri- 
can Embassy, requested that an inspection of the 
German civilians and soldiers who were interned 
in Great Britain should be made by an attache of 
the American Embassy in Berlin. * 

A general permit to "visit the places of intern- 
ment of prisoners of war in the United Kingdom" 
was given to the American Embassy on January 
27, 1915. Every facility was offered for a com- 
plete inspection of all the camps in the United 
Kingdom. A comprehensive report was filed at 

i The American ambassador asked me to-day whether the 
American Embassy would be allowed, as reports were being made 
in Germany about the treatment of German civilians in England, 
to send some one to visit the Germans interned in Newbury and 
Newcastle. 

The ambassador also said that he had received specific com- 
plaints from Germans interned in Queensferry. 

He has given me the following copy of a letter from the Ameri- 
can ambassador in Berlin. 

The object of the Ambassador's enquiry is simply, by bringing 
out the facts, to prevent false statements from doing harm in 
Germany, and at the same time, I assume, to contribute to the 
remedying of any grievances that may exist. 

The American Ambassador in Berlin is, I know, doing all in 
his power to secure good treatment for British subjects in Ger- 
many and I think that it would be desirable to let the American 
Embassy here have full information as to our treatment of Ger- 
mans. 

I have, etc., 

Foreign Office, November 13, 1914. E * GbeT ' 



PROBLEM OF THE PRISONER OF !WAR 5 

the Embassy in Berlin on February 27, 1915, and 
transmitted to the German Government. 

In the meantime the German public became very 
much concerned over the internment of German 
civilians in England and Ireland. 1 

While reprisal action was immediately taken 
in Germany the force of public opinion and the 
very large numbers of German civilians involved, 
unquestionably influenced the German Govern- 
ment to accept the British proposition for a recip- 

i MR. GERARD TO MR. PAGE 

American Embassy, Berlin, November 8, 1914. 
Sir: 

Although it may already be too late to be of much practical 
effect, I feel it my duty, in the interest of humanity, to urge 
you to obtain some formal declaration on the part of the British 
Government as to its purpose in ordering the wholesale concentra- 
tion of Germans in Great Britain and Ireland, as is understood 
here to be the case. It is known here that many of the Ger- 
mans interned belong to the laboring classes, and that their posi- 
tion is actually improved by their internment, and it is recog- 
nised that the British Government has the right to arrest per- 
sona when any wellfounded ground for suspecting them to be spiea 
exists. Great popular resentment has been created by the reports 
of the arrest of other Germans, however, and the German authori- 
ties cannot explain or understand why German travellers who 
have been taken from ocean steamers should not be permitted to 
remain at liberty, of course under police control, even if they are 
compelled to stay in England. The order for the general concen- 
tration of British males between the ages of 17 and 55, which 
went into effect on the 6th instant, was occasioned by the pressure 
of public opinion, which has been still further excited by the 
newspaper reports of a considerable number of deaths in the con- 
centration camps. Up to the 6th considerable liberty of move- 
ment had been allowed to British subjects in Germany, and, as 
you were informed in my telegram of the 5th, many petitions 
were received from them setting forth the favorable conditions 
under which they were permitted to live and to carry on their 
business, and urging the similar treatment of German subjects in 



6 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

rocal inspection. As far as the prisoners of 
war were concerned the British Government had 
already permitted Mr. Lowry, an attache of the 
American Embassy at London to keep in close 
touch with all the British prison camps. He was 
permitted freely to visit and inspect them. Noth- 
ing was therefore to be gained from the German 
standpoint. The possibility of the withdrawal 
of this privilege, however, and the force of public 
opinion in Germany led to an eventual agreement. 

This agreement was as follows: "Principles 
for securing information concerning the condition 
of prisoners in belligerent countries : — 

"1. The belligerents undertake to transmit to 
those countries whose subjects are held by them 
as prisoners of war, whether combatant or non- 
combatant, a compilation of the provisions which 
they have adopted for the treatment of prisoners 
to include those relating to lodging, clothing, and 
food, as well as correspondence and the forward- 
ing of money and presents in kind. In case any 
supplementary regulations have been issued in 
single detention camps, such regulations shall be 
made known to the diplomatic or consular repre- 

England. I cannot but feel that to a great extent the English 
action and the German retaliation has been caused by a misunder- 
standing which we should do our best to remove. It seems to me 
that we should do all in our power to prevent an increase of the 
bitterness which seems to have arisen between the German and 
English peoples, «nd to make it possible for the two countries 
to become friends on the close of the war. 

I have, etc., 

James W. Gebard. 



PROBLEM OF THE PRISONER OF WAR 7 

sentatives who have charge of the protection of 
the prisoners when they inspect such camps. 

"2. General permission to inspect the deten- 
tion camps shall be given to the chiefs of the diplo- 
matic missions who have charge of the protection 
of the prisoners, as well as to the diplomatic or 
consular officers of their country who may be des- 
ignated by them. They shall announce visits to 
the commanders of the camp to hear their wishes 
and complaints. The conversations shall not, 
however, embrace other subjects than such wishes 
and complaints, except with the express permis- 
sion of the commander of the camp. Before leav- 
ing the camp, the diplomatic or consular repre- 
sentative will notify the commander of any wishes 
and complaints, and will not submit to the supe- 
rior authorities of the commander unless the com- 
mander declares himself unable or unwilling to 
consider the wishes or to remedy conditions form- 
ing the subject of complaint." 

In accord with this agreement permission was 
granted to certain members of the Embassy Staff 
to visit all places of internment provided that no- 
tice of the expected visit should be given in ad- 
vance to the commandant of the camp. This latter 
provision was not altogether acceptable to the 
British Government and was eventually modified 
so as to permit the inspection without previous no- 
tice. It will be seen later that while the idea that 
prompted this protest was that preparation for 
the inspection might be made it was afterwards 



8 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

clearly proven that such notice did not militate 
against proper and complete inspection. 

The permission granted in form is as follows : 

AUTHORIZATION PERMISSION 
Dr. D. J. McCarthy 

' 'Is hereby permitted to visit without previous 
notice, all prison camps and hospitals in which 
English and Servian prisoners of war and civil- 
ians are interned. Working camps and prisons 
can likewise be visable after application to the 
Representative of the Army Corps without pre- 
vious notice. The local authorities are requested 
to afford the above named protection and assist- 
ance. 

" According to the official regulation for the in- 
spection of the camp the holder of this permit is 
allowed to converse with the prisoners alone out 
of hearing of the camp authorities. Conversa- 
tions with such prisoners of war who are under- 
going punishment can be held only in the presence 
of a near witness. Dr. D. J. McCarthy will before 
the beginning of the inspection present himself 
personally with this permission to the command- 
ant of the camp or his representative, in hospitals 
to the chef or surgeon in charge, in prisons and 
working camps to the officers in charge. This 
permission is not valid for the camps, etc., in dis- 
tricts under the Bavarian, Saxon or Wurtemberg 
ministries of war. 



PROBLEM OF THE PRISONER OF WAR 9 

"He is requested to return this document to the 
Prussian Ministry of War, when the purpose for 
which it has been issued has been completed. 

' 'It will be here noted that four separate permits 
were issued by the Ministries of War respectively 
of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Wiirtemberg. 
It was understood politics would not be discusssed 
and the inspection of the Embassy agreed not to 
discuss the war or subjects foreign to the matters 
directly concerned with the detail of inspection." 

Like privileges were granted to the American 
Embassy in London for an inspection and control 
of camps for the internment of German soldiers 
and civilians in Great Britain. A similar agree- 
ment was entered into between the Central Pow- 
ers in France under control of the Spanish Em- 
bassy. An understanding rather than an agree- 
ment existed, that the Spanish Embassy should 
do the same for Russian prisoners of war. This 
was assumed on account of the fact that the Span- 
ish Government represented the Russian interests 
in Germany. 

The Ambassador at Berlin immediately assigned 
several attaches of the Embassy to this work and 
requested some of the American consular agents 
to visit camps near their respective consulates. 

It is rather interesting to note that from the 
simple permission in Section 2 to visit army 
camps in order to listen to complaints, that there 



10 THE PRISONER OF .WAR IN GERMANY 

grew out of this by degrees a full and complete 
military inspection, embracing not only a careful 
survey of all the physical conditions within the 
camp but a detailed inspection of the prisoners 
themselves ; a review of sanitary conditions, diplo- 
matic matters in reference to the exchange of 
wounded men, correction of hospital abuses and 
review of judicial matters in reference to court 
martials, etc. Once the principle of inspection 
was established surely the very military German 
commandant could not very well object to a mili- 
tary inspection. A military inspection included 
all of the above. 

When one glances over the early reports of 
camp inspection they appear fragmentary and in- 
complete ; this is largely due, however, to the dif- 
ficulties above mentioned and to the fact that the 
general idea had to be slowly developed against 
resistance and ofttimes refusal to make the in- 
spection complete. To develop and establish a 
principle of inspection to bring it up to its present 
status of scientific completeness, is I take it, a 
definite achievement ; a precedent for use in future 
wars, if unhappily there should be such. It will 
indeed relieve much suffering. I have no doubt 
that in the future this matter will be established 
as a principle of International Law, and be em- 
bodied in Conventions such as those established 
at the Hague. It was indeed fortunate that in this 
work the Embassy had the services of a military 
surgeon, an expert in sanitation, who with unsur- 



PROBLEM OF THE PRISONER OF !WAR 11 

passed tact laid the foundations through two years 
of the development of this idea. I refer to Dr. 
Karl Ohnesorg, Assistant Attache at the American 
Embassy at Berlin. 



CHAPTER II 

THE AEMY CORPS AND THEIR PRISON PROBLEM 

WHILE the German Foreign Office in re- 
sponse to public opinion and as a result of 
protests based on the reports of Major V — (see 
Appendix) and others might agree to reciprocal 
inspection, the German Army Corps and Ger- 
man officers resented any inspection by a neutral 
and more particularly by members of the Diplo- 
matic Service, who were, with a single excep- 
tion, not even military men. One can well imagine 
the mental attitude of a general in the German 
Army towards a youthful attache who presumed 
to criticise anything that he did. 

During the first six months many problems 
were presented which gave rise to considerable 
friction between the inspection service of the Em- 
bassy and the German authorities. That some 
misunderstandings should develop was naturally 
to be expected. The problem was altogether new 
and the machinery for carrying it out was at first 
rather limited. It became evident, however, from 
the beginning that the decentralization of the Ger- 
man Government due to war conditions was re- 
sponsible to a large extent for not only a lack of 
harmony in co-operating with the idea of the in- 

12 



ARMY CORPS AND PRISON PROBLEM 13 

spection but even to a greater degree in securing 
redress for evils existing. 

The Empire is divided into twenty one army 
districts. In war time the government of each 
district is placed in the hands of a general and his 
staff, technically known as an army corps com- 
mand. For all practical purposes this represents 
the full governmental authority of the district as- 
signed to the army corps command. Under the 
military system and during a period of martial 
law the power of the general in command was 
practically absolute. While theoretically he is re- 
sponsible to the Ministry of War of the individual 
German State in which the army corps district is 
located and while this is responsible in a way to 
the Central Government at Berlin the army corps 
commander has so much authority that it would 
appear as if this authority were final. This is 
confirmed by the attitude of the army corps com- 
manders not only in a military but often in a 
general way. 

The attitude indeed of some of these com- 
manders became so bumptious that it became a 
matter of discussion in the Eeichstag. Notwith- 
standing the military government during the war, 
the Reichstag still holds its sessions to listen to 
the chancellor and to discuss matters which the 
speaker may permit open for discussion. Af- 
ter the Liebknecht affair this power was delegated 
to the speaker. In the discussion before men- 
tioned one of the delegates to the Reichstag read 



14 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

a letter sent by one of the army corps commanders 
in reply to one of his constituents who protested 
to the injustice of the censorship in reference to 
business matters. The army corps commander 
replied that he and his delegate might protest as 
much as they liked but that he had the power and 
would do as he pleased in the matter. In this let- 
ter he stated: "We (the army corps commanders) 
are the ministry. We are the Bundesrat. We 
are the imperial chancellor. We are the Beich- 
stag. ' ' He only stopped short of saying : ' ' We are 
the Kaiser." This delegate stated: "I am not 
surprised at this sentence, for the Gotthanlichkeit 
(Likeness to gods) which these commanding gen- 
erals have assumed on the basis of the authority 
they have taken over, can scarcely be surpassed. 

This attitude of the army corps commanders 
found like expression in the attitude of the various 
State Ministries of War of Saxony, Bavaria, and 
Wurtemberg towards the Central Prussian Minis- 
try of War in Berlin. 

While in theory the Ministry of War in Berlin 
is in supreme control, as a matter of fact, it was 
often found that orders issued by it were not car- 
ried out by the Ministries of War of the Individ- 
ual States or the army corps commanders in their 
district. A bureau existed in the Prussian War 
\ Ministry which was supposed to have control of 
all prisoners of war. This was found to be so 
only in theory. War Ministries of the individual 
states had direct control of all the prisoners within 



ARMY CORPS AND PRISON PROBLEM 15 

the limit of their respective states. This prin- 
ciple was insisted upon to the extent that individ- 
ual permissions from the respective ministries of 
war had to be secured before prison camps in their 
districts were visited. The permission granted 
by the Prussian Central Minister of War was not 
sufficient and would not be honored. 

It was a matter of experience that where any 
conflict of authority arose the Central Minister 
of War usually conceded the point to the local 
state ministry or to the individual army corps com- 
'mands. Matters often became so involved that 
one gathered the suspicion that problems pressed 
by a neutral embassy could be delayed or their 
solution prevented by this diffusion of authority. 
In matters of this kind one always had the feeling 
that the German Government was all arms and 
legs and no head. This was true not only in prob- 
lems concerning the prisoner of war but in diplo- 
matic matters generally. It was easy enough to 
get hold of an important member but when serious 
matters were at issue it was absolutely impossible 
to find the head. This condition of affairs was all 
the more serious in the prisoner of war situation. 

While the Central Government was at times sen- 
sitive to outside or at least neutral public opinion 
the army corps commands were often totally indif- 
ferent to it. Here the contrast between the mili- 
tary point of view and that of the German people 
as represented by their Central Government was 
very evident. Not only were the German people 



16 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

like the Foreign Office sensitive to outside criti- 
cism of the prisoner of war situation but were of- 
ten at great pains to defend their treatment of the 
prisoner even when they knew nothing more about 
it than what occasional contact with those assigned 
to working on the farms and on the roads gave to 
them. While direct criticism was as a rule not 
published, articles in the public prints concerning 
reprisals and other matters always led to a certain 
amount of information leaking out which gave a 
clue to foreign criticism. The Central Govern- 
ment with more information as to neutral feeling 
and opinion was disposed in a general way to 
avoid the occasion for increasing resentment over 
the treatment of the prisoner of war. The army 
corps commanders on the other hand representing 
as they do the principles and methods of thought 
of the German Army were concerned wholly with 
obtaining results in the most direct way, and did 
not care what the outside world thought of them 
or their methods. The shortest distance between 
two points was the shortest line to them. It was 
quite immaterial that human rights and human be- 
ings should stand in the way of such a line of 
action. 

The German military mind is trained to effi- 
ciency. Efficiency means results. The prisoner 
of war problem is a military problem. The mili- 
tary idea of the shortest line to results irrespect- 
ive of human rights and human feeling was ap- 
plied to the prisoner of war problem even when 




The littlest Russian soldier prisoner with his Prus- 
sian " guard of honor " 



ARMY CORPS AND PRISON PROBLEM 17 

the industrial complications made the working 
problem predominate over the military aspect to 
such an extent as to make the latter negligible. 

When it became necessary to make the prisoner 
of war work, a failure to obtain results would be 
a reflection on their military efficiency. Here the 
same principle was evolved as that in the Belgian 
deportation; methods harsh, brutal and often in- 
human were justified in order to secure results 
and good practice. If a deported Belgian or a 
prisoner of war was starved to exhaustion and 
died in the process, he was still to be forced into 
a position where he would work, otherwise their 
military system was wrong, and how could that 
be? I have no doubt that facing an identical sit- 
uation where their own men were involved, they 
would have had as little hesitation in using similar 
measures'. 

Officers high in rank were placed in charge of 
prison camps, the rank of general was not uncom- 
mon. The commandant of the camp was there- 
fore very often the same military grade as the 
army corps commander, who was the military gov- 
ernor of the district over which he presided. He 
represented the military idea and enforced it 
throughout his entire staff. It was not surprising 
therefore that the prisoner of war problem was 
properly or improperly handled just in so far as 
it gave military results and not in accord with any 
humane principles. It was stated to me on one 
occasion by a German army inspector of high rank 



18 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

in excuse for the flagrant violation of almost every; 
human consideration in one of the German prison 
camps, that the military authorities had placed a 
general in charge of this camp and had expected 
him to produce results. They had left the admin- 
istration of the camp to him, assuming that he had 
the rank to enforce authority over his own sub- 
ordinates and the brains to do it properly, but that 
unfortunately he followed too closely the letter 
of the regulations, etc. 

The commandant of the civilian camp at Euhle- 
ben in a personal reply to a published report con- 
cerning his camp when it was stated that criti- 
cism was not aimed at him personally but to the 
food conditions in charge of an officer of the min- 
istry of war replied: "I am my camp; any criti- 
cism of my camp is a criticism of me personally." 

Many of the commandants of the German prison 
camps like Graf Schwerin at Ruhleben were men 
of kindly impulses and sincerely interested in the 
welfare and comfort of the men assigned to their 
keeping and for whom on the part of the prisoner 
of war there was sincere affection. They were, 
however, a part of the military system and could 
not entirely escape it. Such men were often 
handicapped by the military regulations, some- 
times by the facilities at their disposal for the 
care of the prisoners, sometimes by the organiza- 
tion, as in the food situation at Ruhleben and 
sometimes by their own lack of executive ability 



&RMY CORPS AND PRISON PROBLEM 19 

to properly use materials at hand or to force their 
own organization through the military red tape. 
[The commandant at Parchim in charge of a camp 
of thirty five thousand men stated to me that, ' ' re- 
called to military duty from his own business he 
had firmly resolved to come out of this difficult and 
disagreeable duty with a clean conscience. ' ' He 
succeeded in infusing this spirit through his en- 
tire staff with the end result that care and con- 
sideration for the prisoner of war was evident 
throughout the camp. 

It may be stated that as a rule that not only the 
staff but the noncommissioned officers and the 
members of the guard all take their cue as to the / 
treatment of the prisoner of war from the com- * 
mandant. If the commandant is influenced by 
humane principles and a kindly spirit one may ex- 
pect to find the entire camp with this atmosphere. 
If, on the other hand, the commandant is a mili- 
tary martinet with brutal and inhuman instincts 
the whole atmosphere of the camp even down to 
the lowest positions is harsh and inhuman. 
"Alles hangt von commandant ab" (Everything 
depends on the commandant), was a frequent say- 
ing on the part of those who had the work in 
charge. As a matter of experience one could al- 
most tell from his estimate of the commandant at 
the time of the formal call before the inspection 
of the camp what sort of a camp he had to ex- 
pect. Strangely enough when one looks over the 



20 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

history of the prisoner of war one is impressed 
with the fact that not only now but far back into 
the middle ages that "Alles hangt von command- 
ant ab." 



CHAPTEE III 

THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION OF THE PRISONER 
OP WAR 

AUGUST 1st, 1916, the number of prisoners of 
war officially given out by the German Gov- 
ernment was as follows x : 

OFFICERS MEN" 

French 5947 348,731 

Russians 9019 1,202,871 

Belgians 656 41,751 

British 947 29,956 

Servians 22,914 

Total 1,646,223 

These prisoners were distributed in 105 prison 
camps. In addition to these camps for men and 
noncommissioned officers there were camps for 
commissioned officers. In addition to this there 
were three camps for civilians interned and one 
camp for reserve officers. Inasmuch as the prob- 
lem must be considered as essentially a military 
problem and inasmuch as the dictum of the Ger- 
man officers, ' * That good soldiers make good pris- 
oners/ ' we will consider these phases of the prob- 

i On July 1, 1917, the number of prisoners of war in Ger- 
many was held to be about 1,700,000, only a few prisoners hav- 
ing been taken since August, 1916. 

21 



22 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

lem. As a military problem one would naturally 
expect like other military matters it would be or- 
ganized and treated with the greatest efficiency. 
That it was not handled with complete efficiency, 
that certain glaring defects developed from time 
to time was due largely to the fact that it was an 
entirely new problem, and in its magnitude, was 
unexpected. Evidently no forethought or provis- 
ion had been made for it ; like other military oper- 
ations it could not have been a part of military 
manoeuvres or military practice. To house and 
provide food and guard one and a half millions of 
men, at a time when all the forces of the nation 
were centred on the destruction of the opposing 
army will I think be admitted to be a rather large 
problem. Just as soon, however, as the problem 
of housing and care in concentrated camps was 
worked out in a fairly satisfactory manner, the 
i labor and food problem in Germany led to the em- 
ployment of at least 80 per cent of the prisoners 
of war in mercantile and agricultural pursuits 
with the creation of entirely new problems, much 
more complex and with more possibilities for trou- 
ble than was met with in the concentrated camps. 
In the concentration camps, known technically 
as parent camps, the prisoner of war was treated 
in the best camps on a complete military basis. 
"While this was contrary to the military regula- 
tions, the right type of commandant was found to 
get the best results by this method. The prisoner 
of war was held to the same military discipline 



THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION 23 

under his own noncommissioned officers as in ac- 
tive field service in his own army. The ranking 
noncommissioned officers, a sergeant-major or the 
senior noncommissioned officer placed therein, 
was held responsible for the discipline and control 
of the men assigned to him. Orders for camp 
duty for outside work were issued to the noncom- 
missioned officer and transmitted by him to the 
battalion or barrack sergeant. The noncommis- 
sioned officers were held responsible for the mili- 
tary bearing of the enlisted men, for their clothes 
and appearance for the proper attitude towards 
the German officers in the matter of salute, etc. 
In this way discipline could be obtained and the 
authority of the noncommissioned officer upheld. 

The enlisted men receive various types of pun- 
ishment suggested by the noncommissioned offi- 
cer and ordered by the German staff officer in com- 
mand of the camp. 

The noncommissioned officer in such a camp 
occupied an important and dignified position. 
He had the welfare of his men at heart and when 
efficient, instilled an attitude of pride and mili- 
tary bearing under adverse conditions. Such a 
fighting spirit "to see it through" as a member of 
his army should, was a great help in keeping up 
the morale and in the prevention of mental de- 
pression. 

In the majority of the German prison camps 
such a complete organization was not only not in- 
sisted upon but not even permitted. In such 



24 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

camps there was an increase of friction, and a 
lack of co-operation not manifested in the com- 
pletely organized camps. The attitude of the 
commandant of these camps was that the guard 
placed in each barrack was in complete command 
and that the noncommissioned officer had no rights 
over the enlisted men which he was bound to re- 
spect. The temptation to such a guard who al- 
ways had a musket with bayonet fixed in his hand 
to enforce his authority with unnecessary violence 
was often too much to be resisted. 

In many camps an intermediate position was 
taken with limited authority given to the noncom- 
missioned officer. While in some instances the 
excuse given that the prisoner noncommissioned 
officer did not show the right spirit of co-operation 
might be true it is only fair to state that in my ex- 
perience, the noncommissioned officers, and more 
particularly the British officers, were a fine body 
of men actuated by the highest principles not only 
in the care and the comfort and the welfare of 
their own men but also in the maintenance of dis- 
cipline and the full co-operation with the German 
camp authorities, when the attitude of the latter 
was half reasonable. On the other hand they 
had the courage to insist upon the rights of the 
prisoner of war as men and as soldiers and to 
maintain this attitude even under terms of severe 
punishment. For the Canadian noncommis- 
sioned officer too much cannot be said in praise of 
him. 



THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION 25 

Under the German system it was, therefore, pos- 
sible for a commandant to treat his prisoners as 
criminals without any rights, he was bound to re- 
spect guarding him from day to day at the point of 
the bayonet and permitting these guards to use un- 
necessary brutality in enforcing their commands. 
Under these circumstances one was not surprised 
to find that occasionally severe injury and at times 
the death of the prisoner of war resulted from 
some action of the guard. The commander at 
Schneidemuhl stated that, "it was better for the 
guard to use his musket or bayonet on the pris- 
oner, rather than the prisoner should be tried by 
court martial and sentenced to long years of im- 
prisonment." To this naturally we were com- 
pelled to disagree, both as to the principle and the 
necessity for it. 

In one of the deaths reported at Limburg, to be 
considered in detail later, one of the Irish pris- 
oners was shot by the guard, according to the 
statement furnished us by the commandant when 
there were a sufficient number of people in the 
room to control the prisoner who was under the 
influence of alcohol, permitted by the same guard. 
In practically all such cases serious consequences 
could be traced to the attitude of the commanding 
authorities of the camp towards the prisoner and 
the natural reaction attitude of the guard to a 
reckless and brutal point of view of the officer over 
him. It is sufficient that the harsh and brutal 
treatment of the Irish prisoners led to the shoot- 



26 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

ing of the prisoners by the guard following the 
failure of the attempt of the German military au- 
thorities to convert this camp into a political camp 
and to seduce the prisoners from their allegiance 
to Great Britain. While such conditions were bad 
enough in parent camps under almost the direct 
supervision of the commandant and his staff when 
these prisoners were removed to working camps/ 
at some distance from the parent camps and when 
the guard, an enlisted soldier and not an officer, 
had unlimited authority, conditions often became 
unbearable and serious consequences not infre- 
quently ensued. On the other hand the command- 
ant when he was so disposed evidently had the 
right to treat the prisoner of war in an entirely 
different manner, to regard him not as a criminal 
but as a brave man who had put his life in jeop- 
ardy for his own country and what he believed to 
be right. Such a commandant in treating the 
prisoner of war as a soldier not only permitted but 
encouraged the complete military organization of 
the prisoners under his charge, but also gave to 
the noncommissioned officer that respect for his 
position which made his own men respect and obey 
him. In working camps under his jurisdiction 
he assigned whenever possible and when the num- 
ber of prisoners justified it a prisoner noncom- 
missioned officer to take charge of his own men 
under orders from the German guard and to ef- 
fect that co-operation so essential for the welfare 
of the prisoner and for effective results from their 



THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION 27 

labor. It will therefore be seen that military or- 
ganization of the prisoner of war according to his 
own standards could under a properly thought out 
scheme be maintained even in the working camps. 

The general principle that the prisoner of war 
was always a military problem was insisted upon 
by the inspection of the embassy. We assumed 
and acted upon the theory that even when the pris- 
oner of war was assigned to work he was to take 
orders only from the German guard either di- 
rectly or through his own noncommissioned of- 
ficer; that the foreman or other officers of working 
corporations in industrial plants had no right to 
give orders to the prisoner of war except through 
the German guard. It was found that when this 
principle was violated that it always led to trou- 
ble. The feeling of hostility of the German work- 
man to a prisoner of war and more particularly 
towards the British led him when permitted to 
give orders to do this harshly and often to enforce 
it with actual brutality. 

"A good soldier is a good prisoner of war." 
This is unquestionably true under a proper mili- 
tary organization of the camp and the working 
camp. It is not true under improper organiza- 
tion and maladministration. The good prisoner 
of war trained to efficient organization reacts 
properly and in a favorable way to an organiza- 
tion that is along right military lines ; when he is 
treated as an interned soldier and not as a crim- 
inal. The prisoner of war as a rule has a keen 



28 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

sense of justice and right action and is willing to 
obey when he understands what is expected of 
him and the command is just according to the prin- 
ciples under which he is interned. When the Ger- 
man military authorities posted a notice on the 
barracks of the prisoner of war camps and claimed 
for its justification the principles imbodied in the 
Hague Convention, the prisoner of war has a right 
to assume and does assume that the other princi- 
ples imbodied in that document, if it govern his 
own action should govern the attitude of the Ger- 
man Government towards him. 

It was found necessary in a proper inspection of 
the prisoner of war camps for the members of the 
inspection to maintain always a military point of 
view towards the problems presented to them. 
No other position could be taken in matters of con- 
flict between the prisoner of war and German mili- 
tary authority, that the prisoner of war was in the 
first place a prisoner and in the second place a 
soldier. That he was always expected to obey or- 
ders no matter what the orders were. Third, that 
if he considered the order unjust that he had the 
right to appeal to the American Embassy in Ber- 
lin, who would then take up the matter with the 
Central German Government and have it rectified. 
While the German Government had every right to 
expect that the American Embassy having charge 
of British interests and expected us to take this 
attitude in the interests of harmony and avoid- 
ance of conflict, we on the other hand had the right 



THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION 29 

to expect the German Government to live up to 
their assurance that the right of a prisoner of war 
to communicate with the embassy should in all 
cases be respected. As a matter of fact, this right 
was not only not respected, but in so many in- / 
stances violated not only indeed in reference to the 
common soldier but even to the officer prisoners of 
war that it may be stated that it was more hon- 
ored in the breach than in its observance. The 
German military authorities hid behind the quib- 
ble that they had the right to censor all communi- 7 
cations sent out from prison camps and when they 
found that when complaints addressed to the Em- 
bassy were without foundation, in fact, they de- 
clined to transmit such complaints, in other words 
they were judges and jury in matters often of life 
and death and they themselves were the accused. 
The attitude on the part of the German military 
authorities led the American embassy to take the 
position that a rigorous and frequent inspection 
of every prisoner of war camp in Germany was 
not only advisable but absolutely necessary if in- 
justice to the prisoner of war in his rights and in 
his person was to be avoided, and this notwith- 
standing the fact that the German Government 
had its own inspection of the prisoner of war 
camps and by all rules of the popular idea of 
German efficiency, as applied to military matters, 
should have been satisfactory and efficient. As 
we proceed we shall see why this inspection failed 
and how far the inspection by the military govern- 



30 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

ments was successful in compensating for this 
failure. 

In dealing with this subject I have not been led 
and will not consider whether the treatment of the 
prisoner of war in other countries was better or 
worse than that meted out to him in Germany but 
will face this problem as a scientific and humane 
problem along sociological and social service lines. 



CHAPTER IV 

TECHNIQUE OF INSPECTION 

THE information upon which the statements 
in the succeeding chapters have been 
founded are either matters of personal ex- 
perience or this combined with the records of the 
inspection for prisoners of war for the American 
Embassy. Before entering upon a consideration 
of the various matters in connection with the pris- 
oner of war situation I will state the method used 
by the inspection for the actual inspection of the 
various camps, the collection of data and the dis- 
position made of it. During the first five or six 
months of the inspection the various attaches of 
the Embassy were assigned to this duty. While 
all of these men were members of the diplomatic 
service and imbued with the idea of doing this 
work in an honest and conscientious manner the J 
complexity of the problem was such that at first 
reports were incomplete. This was due largely 
to a lack of system, and survey of the prob- 
lem and to a certain extent to a lack of train- 
ing to consider the matter from a scientific 
standpoint. One of the attaches, however, Dr. 
Karl Ohnesorg, passed Assistant Surgeon of 
the United States Navy who was connected 

31 



32 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

with the Embassy as Assistant Naval Attache, for 
a period of almost two years devoted his time al- 
most exclusively to this work, and in spite of the 
limitations placed upon his activity by his military 
status he did exceptional work in the organization 
of the Inspection Service. His medical and mili- 
tary training especially fitted him for this work. 

1 His associate in the Embassy, Ellis L. Dresel, by 
profession an attorney at law, carried into this 
work a legal training which proved of great im- 
portance in complementing the qualifications of 
Dr. Ohnesorg. Too much cannot be said in praise 
of the results obtained by these two men under 
adverse circumstances. It is well to bear in mind 
that both these men were of mature age and of 

. exceptionally good personality. It was unfor- 
tunate that in the early days of the inspection 
service and at times even to the termination of it 
that young men, on account of the dearth of as- 
sistance in the Embassy were assigned to this ser- 
vice. It will be recalled that those placed in 
charge of prison camps were men of high rank in 
the German Army. For a young man just out of 
college to presume to tell a general in the German 
Army how to run his camp was naturally looked 
upon as presumptuous. Such a younger man was 
often, if not always, in awe of these officers and 
unless they had that assurance which comes from 
exceptional knowledge or exceptional training, 
were not warranted in taking a firm position in 
reference to either abuses or violations of the 




3 



TECHNIQUE OF INSPECTION 33 

rights of the prisoner of war. As a matter of fact 
unless such qualifications existed many matters, 
which a more experienced man would detect could 
easily be overlooked if the commandant so willed 
it. For this and other reasons in my report to 
the Embassy I insisted that such younger men 
should be used as assistants or secretaries to men 
of more mature years, insight or judgment who 
would have charge of the inspection. I further 
recommended that such other men having charge 
of the inspection should be trained physicians with 
the working knowledge of large social service 
problems, hygiene and hospital or camp inspec- 
tion, with some knowledge of military form and 
procedure and with sufficient assurance and tact 
to stand firmly for their rights in the inspection 
and for the correction of evils wherever they ex- 
isted. It would appear that these were high qual- 
ifications to expect in one man. After the organi- 
zation of the inspection a man fulfilling all these 
qualifications, C. L. Furbush, was assigned to this 
work. 

It was the intention of Ambassador Gerard to 
assign two other men of this caliber to this work, 
but diplomatic relations were broken before this 
could be accomplished. It was evident that with 
such a complex problem, there must be a system- 
atic and detailed inspection of the individual 
camps with a follow up principle added if com- 
plete results were to be obtained. 



34 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

DIFFICULTIES OF THE PROBLEM 

Perhaps the greatest difficulty encountered was 
the attitude of the German military authorities to 
the inspection of their camps. While as a rule 
polite and considerate to the members of the Em- 
bassy it was evident that they resented an inspec- 
tion as a reflection on their camps. This was due 
in part to the attitude taken by the British Gov- 
ernment that inspection should be made without 
previous notice and in part to the practice of the 
Embassy of making an immediate inspection of 
the camp whenever a complaint reached the Brit- 
ish Government or the Embassy that conditions 
in the camp were unsatisfactory. Commandants 
as a result of this came to look upon an inspection 
as an investigation and naturally took a resistant 
attitude. When, however, they came to realize 
that an inspection was an inspection and nothing 
more and that good conditions were praised with 
the same fairness that bad conditions were con- 
demned and that the inspection was to become a 
routine matter to be made at regular stated inter- 
vals, this attitude largely disappeared. The same 
effect was noted when a right of surprise inspec- 
tion was not insisted upon and previous notice of 
the inspection was actually served on the com- 
mandant. What little value there might be to an 
inspection without notice was not compensated for 
by the resistance created by notification. While 
this latter might be of some value to an amateur 



TECHNIQUE OF INSPECTION 35 

inspector it was of relatively little or no value to 
an inspector of experience, training and judg- 
ment. In a camp of from ten to forty thousand 
men even if it were possible to change conditions 
so as to prepare for an inspection it would disturb 
the routine of the camp too much, in order to ef- 
fect this and be inconsistent with the routine meth- 
ods of the German mind. Inasmuch as prisoners 
could be examined out of hearing of the guard it 
was a perfectly easy matter to determine whether 
the food exhibited on the day of inspection was of 
a different quality or quantity than that of the pre- 
vious week or even month. Careful questioning 
of the noncommissioned officers, examined sep- 
arately, and of the enlisted men prisoners of war, 
would give accurate information not only as to this 
but as to other matters in connection with the 
camp. 

In order therefore to eliminate the necessity for 
previous notice and in order that each and every 
prisoner of war might have the opportunity to 
make a complaint or to give information of value 
for the inspection, the following routine outline 
of inspection was developed. In the early days of 
the inspection it was not considered polite or re- 
spectful to the German authorities to make writ- 
ten notes either of conditions or complaints regis- 
tered by the men. When, however, a detailed and 
printed form of inspection with certain spaces to 
be filled in were exhibited at the beginning of the 
inspection and filled put as the inspection pro- 



36 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMAN! 

gressed this had not only the contrary effect, but 
rather impressed the camp authorities with the 
idea that the inspection was to be routine and 
thorough. (See Appendix.) 

RULES FOR CAMP INSPECTION 

If previous notice has been decided upon a call 
is made at army headquarters, the general com- 
manding the army corps is called upon and a card 
left for him. A visit is then made to the depart- 
ment of prisoners of war of the army corps. The 
officer in command of this division, after the au- 
thorization papers have been presented, is then 
told what camp or camps the inspector intends to 
visit; he is then requested to detail an officer to 
accompany the inspection party of the Embassy. 

This latter is advised and is found to work out 
well in practice. The officer detailed from the 
army corps does not feel any particular camp to be 
his personal responsibility and can be made to see 
unfavorable conditions from the view point of the 
neutral; complaints as to harsh and brutal treat- 
ment can be investigated on the spot and remedial 
measures immediately ordered without too much 
delay. At the beginning of the camp inspection 
an official visit is paid to the commandant of the 
camp where the authorization papers are again 
presented. The commandant is requested then to 
furnish from his records the following informa- 
tion: 

A. Total number of prisoners in the camp. 



TECHNIQUE OF INSPECTION 37 

B. Total number of prisoners for which the 
camp was constructed. 

C. Total number of British prisoners. Total 
number of French prisoners. Total number of 
Eussian prisoners. Total number of Servian 
prisoners. 

D. Number of prisoners confined in the hos- 
pital. List of prisoners who have died, and cause 
of death. 

E. Number of prisoners assigned to working 
camps, with the list of the various working camps 
under the control of the parent camp in which 
British or Servians are found. 

F. Number of British or Servian prisoners of 
war, if either, a, in punishment barracks, b, in the 
camp jail. 

G-. A plan of the camp if such plan is not 
already on file at the Embassy. 

The commandant of the camp should then be 
asked if he has any statement to make in reference 
to the British or Servian prisoners in the camp 
or working camps. If such statements are made 
in reference to particular cases, careful note 
should be made at the time or if this is deemed in- 
advisable detailed notes should be made imme- 
diately after the inspection. 

It was usual for the commandant and his camp 
officer and sometimes his entire staff to accom- 
pany the inspection party. 

At the outset of the inspection a request was 
made that the senior British noncommissioned 



38 THE PRISONER OF .WAR IN GERMANY 

officer should be sent for and permitted to assist 
in the inspection. This was usually permitted 
without question and in those cases where it was 
objected to, it was insisted upon. Upon his ar- 
rival the senior noncommissioned officer was 
asked to make a report of the British prisoners 
under his command. This was done advisedly in 
order to assume that a military organization of 
the prisoners of war existed and that he, a senior 
noncommissioned officer would naturally be ex- 
pected to know of conditions of the men under 
him. He was asked specifically to report on the 
general treatment of the men, discipline, clothing, 
shoes, housing, etc., and to any knowledge he 
might have of working camp conditions either 
from direct observation or from reports of pris- 
oners having returned from such camps. After 
these matters were noted the inspection of the 
camps was begun, taking each battalion in suc- 
cession. Each barrack in which prisoners of war 
were confined was then inspected. Prisoners of 
war were lined up in military formation outside 
the barrack under the command of the noncom- 
missioned officer of the barrack. Clothing, shoes, 
and general appearance was then individually 
noted. The senior noncommissioned officer an- 
nounced to the men that the inspectors were from 
the American Embassy in Berlin, and that they 
represented the interest of the British Govern- 
ment. If any one had any complaint to make he 
would be permitted to do so in private. Any pris- 



TECHNIQUE OF INSPECTION 39 

oner having such a complaint was ordered to step 
out of the ranks. Each complaint was heard sep- 
arately out of hearing of the German officers and 
of the other prisoners. After recording the name 
and number of the prisoner of war, careful notes 
were made of the complaint. After all the com- 
plaints had been registered a short address was 
made to the men in which their attention was 
called to the fact that they were still under their 
own military discipline and that they were ex- 
pected to take orders from their own noncom- 
missioned officer in command. Their attention, 
when necessary, was also called to the necessity 
of maintaining a strict military bearing and a neat 
soldierly appearance in order to maintain the tra- 
ditions of their own army. 

The barracks were then inspected ; measured as 
to cubic air content, the number of windows, ven- 
tilation, cleanliness, the type and arrangements of 
beds, nature of the bedding, number of blankets, 
heating and lighting arrangements and any details 
such as tables for eating, rooms for noncommis- 
sioned officers, etc., noted. 

Each successive barrack with its man content 
was inspected in the same way. After all the bar- 
racks had been inspected a detailed inspection of 
the hospital was made. Careful notes were made 
as to the size, ventilation, heat, lighting, bed con- 
tent, bathing facilities and general hospital equip- 
ment. This inspection is made with the physician 
in charge. Each British prisoner in the hospital 



40 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

was then visited, his name, regiment and diagno- 
sis noted; his condition inquired into and any com- 
plaint or request noted and registered. A note 
was also made of the number of physicians in 
charge, their rank and nationality, number of or- 
derlies, etc. 

The camp jail was then inspected and any pris- 
oners confined therein were examined and careful 
note made of the charges against them, their state- 
ment of the case, etc. (The examination of men 
under arrest in the jail and in the punishment bar- 
racks had to be made in the presence of the Ger- 
man officers according to the agreement stated 
in the authorization. Punishment barracks were 
then visited and the inspection carried out as 
in that of the jail. In this way every prisoner 
confined in the camp had the opportunity of 
making requests or complaints as to his condi- 
tion, his food, his treatment, etc. Inspection was 
then made of the kitchens and the meal prepared 
during the inspection was inspected in prepara- 
tion and tested. Food stores were inspected and 
in those camps where bread was baked, the bakery 
was also inspected. Sanitary arrangements were 
carefully noted as to type, size, cleanliness and po- 
sition with reference to the barracks, etc., oppor- 
tunities for exercise and amusement, for religious 
services, library, the censoring department of let- 
ters; the department of and censoring of food 
packages, arrangements for bathing, etc. 




a 



TECHNIQUE OF INSPECTION 41 

When this inspection was completed a confer- 
ence was held with the commandant in reference 
to any matters that might have developed during 
the inspection. A request was then made that all 
matters agreed upon as valid complaints should 
be corrected. The commandant was then told 
that it was a matter of definite routine and the 
Embassy expected to reinspect the camp in four 
months. If conditions were bad an inspection 
was to be made within a month. 

Inspection for officer prisoners of war was made 
very much after the same fashion ; it was, how- * 
ever, found difficult to keep such inspections sys- 
tematic on account of the differences in housing, 
etc. The senior officer usually reported for his 
camp and the officers under him ; he also reported 
for the enlisted personnel of war serving as order- 
lies. The inspection of quarters both for officers 
and men followed the same routine as in the large 
parent camps. As far as possible all the officers 
found in quarters were given the privilege of mak- 
ing complaints or filing requests to be trans- 
mitted by the Embassy. It was found, however, 
that the senior commanding officer was in close 
touch with all his men and his report was usually 
so comprehensive that little was added to it from 
the individual interviews. Inspection of the work- 
ing camps followed in a general way the inspec- 
tion of the parent camp. The detail of this will 
be considered in the chapter on working camps. 



42 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

DISPOSITION" OF EEPOETS 

At the termination of a day 's work of inspection 
reports were drawn up of each individual camp 
and elaborated in despatch form used in the dip- 
lomatic service. The notes taken at the time of 
inspection were used as a basis in this report. 
Matters under discussion with the commandant 
or the army corps in the absence of stenographic 
notes were reported as far as possible in the exact 
words used in the interview. Complaints of pris- 
oners, however, were always taken down verba- 
tim. 

The early reports were arranged in narrative 
form. It became evident, however, that reports 
like the inspection itself must be systematized and 
arranged in some definite order for easy reference 
and compilation of statistics. This arrangement 
followed in a general way the form used in the de- 
scription of the parent camp and the working 
camps. 

The report and more particularly the diplo- 
matic matters contained therein were passed upon 
by the ambassador. Two copies were sent to the 
German Foreign Office, two copies to the British 
Foreign Office through the American Embassy in 
London, two copies to the State Department in 
Washington, and two copies kept on file at the 
American Embassy at Berlin. The copies sent 
to the German Foreign Office and later to the Ger- 
man Ministry of War, were eventually sent 



TECHNIQUE OF INSPECTION 43 

through the army corps command to the command- 
ant of the camp inspected. 

According to the rules of the inspection depart- 
ment of the Embassy only matters of fact were to 
be included in the reports. The personal opinion 
of the inspector was not to be expressed. This 
naturally limited the report both as to form and 
substance. While it had certain disadvantages it 
always kept the reports more than fair to the Ger- 
man Government and avoided giving offense. 
Matters of fact could be substantiated and con- 
trolled. 

During the first year of the war certain adverse 
matters were withheld from the reports with the 
hope that the evils could be more easily corrected 
and possibly with the idea of placating the Ger- 
man officials and to relieve the irritation produced 
by the report of adverse conditions. The German 
official does not, however, appreciate this form of 
courtesy. They rather looked upon it as weak- 
ness and lack of experience. To an officer high 
in the staff of the German army corps I stated 
that, "If I had his assurance that certain evils 
would be corrected, I would include his assur- 
ance in my report but that I would nevertheless 
make a report of the conditions as found.' ' He 
replied that he understood this perfectly; that a 
report was a report and unless it included every- 
thing observed it was of no value. The determin- 
ation to report adverse conditions in this case 
was the most important factor in securing the re- 



44 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

forms demanded. Any weakness in this regard 
would have been met with a reluctance to make any 
changes; even when it was found that reforms 
were later effected any reply to criticism and ad- 
mission to wrong doing was never secured and the 
changed conditions were often noted in subsequent 
inspections. By the above method of disposition 
of reports the German Government was kept al- 
ways in close touch with the work of the inspec- 
tion and its point of view. In a survey of all the 
reports submitted I cannot recall a case where an 
attitude was taken which was at all unfair to the 
German Government. On the contrary, reports 
were often mild expressions of conditions which 
could very easily and justly have been made to 
appear much worse than stated. 



CHAPTER V 

THE PAKENT CAMP 

THE statement has already been made that 
"the commandant was his camp." This 
was due in large part to the latitude given to the 
commandant in regard to practically all matters 
of discipline, preparation of food, organization of 
the camp, etc. There were, however, certain gen- 
eral regulations issued by the Central Ministry of 
War which gave rise to much trouble, and were 
responsible for the flagrant violation of the rights 
of the prisoners. The most important regula- 
tion in this respect or, to put it in a different way, 
the regulation most potent for trouble from their 
own standpoint and from pain and suffering and 
discontent on the part of the prisoner, was that 
issued to the effect that all prisoners Russian, 
French, British, Belgians and Servians should be 
confined in the same camps and share the same 
barracks. When to this mixture was added the 
French Colonial, Negro, Mussulman and the 
British Colonials from India, the possibilities of 
social inconvenience can be imagined. This was 
true of both officers as well as men. The explana- 
tion given was "in order to demonstrate to these 
prisoners that they were not neutral allies." It 

45 




Map showing location of prison' camps 



46 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

was evident, therefore, that this inconvenience was 
intended by the German authorities. Such an act 
\ was followed by just retribution. The American 
* Embassy insisted from the beginning on a separa- 
tion of the different races. It made representa- 
tions to the Foreign Office that the British be con- 
fined in separate camps. This request was always 
met by a refusal. The Germans said they were 
allies, and if they could fight together they should 
be quartered together. The difference in customs 
and habits of life, more particularly in reference 
to food and ventilation, produced dissatisfaction 
and accentuated discontent. In overcrowded bar- 
racks the Eussians insisted upon having every- 
thing closed tight. The French, while sensitive to 
odors, were mortally afraid of a courant d'air. 
The English Tommy, after the open life of the 
campaign, insisted on fresh air and often went to 
the trouble to fight for it, even though he had to 
suffer punishment in a stuffy jail after he got it. 
In matters of food and recreation, in methods of 
both work and play, racial differences led to ir- 
ritation and were often subversive of discipline. 
This led to peculiar atmospheres in various camps. 
In some camps the English despised the French' 
but were sympathetic towards the Eussian ; in the 
other camps the reverse was true. The same was 
true in the attitude towards the Belgians and the 
Belgians towards the other groups. The Allied 
feeling of dislike for the Germans was a bond, 
however, which united all and served to a certain 



-tv THE PARENT CAMP, 47 

extent in keeping the interallied antipathy from 
becoming too acute. This attitude was aptly put 
by a British soldier who, after a violent diatribe 
against the Eussians in which he stated they were 
not civilized, in reply to my statement they were 
his allies, said, "They did not have to be civilized 
to be his allies. " This indeed was a point of view 
of those who found it hard to live cheek by jowl. 

The soldier may picture to himself the discom- 
forts of trench life, the possibility of being 
wounded, of loss of limb or eyesight ; he may have 
discounted the possibility of death in battle ; but, 
strangely enough, one rarely comes across in the 
prison camps a prisoner who had ever considered 
the possibility of being taken captive. One can 
readily picture the sense of discouragement and 
depression that overtakes these men when they 
find themselves isolated in the quarantine of a 
large prison camp. Without freedom of move- 
ment throughout the camp, forced to subsist on the 
camp ration foreign to their taste, and huddled 
together in barracks with other strange nationali- 
ties whose language they do not understand, the 
depression and resentment once thus begun rarely 
completely leaves the prisoner of war. I never 
expect to see more utter desolation and hopeless- 
ness pictured on human faces than that of some 
French prisoners recently taken at Verdun. 

From the care-free life in the field, with all that 
fine feeling of enthusiasm which came with the 
successful defense of Verdun, from a proud mem- 



48 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

ber of a victorious army, here they were after an 
ill-advised counter attack suddenly transferred to 
sordid surroundings of a not too good prison 
camp. Here, confined to a very small area by the 
high barbed wire surrounding their quarantine 
barracks, they sat and brooded from day to day 
with hardly a change of position and without a 
motion unless ordered into their barracks by a 
pompous and blustering German noncommissioned 
officer and his guard. There they sat, woe per- 
sonified, apparently looking through the barbed 
wire, but with that vacant look which could only 
mean a refusal to accept as real the things they 
saw and to look through and beyond it to what 
might have been. 

The general atmosphere of the prison camp is 
one of depression, and when to this is added un- 
just treatment, a dangerous mental attitude is en- 
gendered which is dangerous both for the men and 
the camp. The little social traits and habits 
which different races find irritating, to say noth- 
ing of the larger and more serious differences 
which sometimes exist, as between the blacks and 
whites, produced a condition of hypersensitive- 
ness and hyperirritability. This continued from 
day to day, from week to week, from month to 
month, and the uncertainly of its duration mag- 
nified it many times. 

This order of mixing the races had only one 
advantage: it led to repeated inspection by the 
American and Spanish embassies. Had all the 



THE PARENT CAMP 49 

British been confined in one camp or a series of 
camps, the problem of handling the men as well 
as the inspection wonld have been much simpli- 
fied. As it was, the American Embassy in its in- 
spection of the British prisoners insisted upon 
certain camp reforms which necessarily benefited 
the total number of prisoners. The Spanish Em- 
bassy inspecting the French had the similar ef- 
fect for the good of the British. While the dis- 
advantage of this regulation must have been 
obvious to the German authorities, the feeling 
against the British was so intense that segregation 
was not considered. The reason for their action 
becomes all the more obvious when it is recalled 
that the Irish prisoners were segregated in one of 
the best constructed camps of Germany, but not 
from humane but for political considerations. 
The discontent and friction in the camps, while a 
sufficiently bad effect, was as nothing compared to 
the eventual great evil of epidemic disease that 
resulted from this administrative error. The 
Eussian soldier brought into these camps the 
germs of typhus, and in Eussia typhus is epidemic 
and occurs in such a mild form as to be easily over- 
looked. The epidemic of typhus fever which 
broke out in the German camps and gave rise to 
such serious consequences could have been en- 
tirely avoided, as far as the French and British 
were concerned, had these nations been segregated 
in separate camps. Had this been done, the Ger- 
man Government, the German people, German 



50 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

science would not have had to face for many gen- 
erations the stigma of Wittenberg and the other 
plague camps. 

Before taking up the consideration of the un- 
favorable type of camp, it would be well to con- 
sider the transport of prisoners to camps and the 
general organization of these camps. It is usual, 
after taking prisoners of war, to transport them 
immedately into the interior of Germany. When 
facilities exist, a detention in the military zone is 
sometimes practised for the purpose of steriliza- 
tion, so to speak, in order to prevent the importa- 
tion of disease. Dr. Ohnesorg, who inspected 
these hospitals back of the front, reports that at 
Montmedy five hundred French prisoners of war 
were quartered in an old fortress in the town. 
Here they were given a careful medical examina- 
tion, with more particular reference to typhoid, 
typhus, smallpox and cholera. They were vac- 
cinated against all these diseases. While this 
was being done their clothes were sterilized, and 
when this process was completed they were then 
transported to large prison camps. When large 
numbers of prisoners were taken, these methods; 
were found to be impracticable, prisoners then be- 
ing transported directly. In this event a certain 
portion of the camp to which they are sent is 
designated as quarantine. When it was found 
that Russian troops were suffering from typhus 
and an epidemic of the disease had broken out in 
the German camps ? detention of Eussian prison- 




A picture that tells its own story 




The guard with bayonet is always there 



THE PARENT CAMP 51 

ers back of the line, where fumigation could be 
practiced, was made the rule. German soldiers 
were also submitted to this process before leave 
was granted to return to their homes. 

Prisoners of war were transported in box cars, 
the floor of which was covered with straw ; neces- 
sary stops were made from time to time for food, 
etc. Prisoners who were severely wounded or 
those who might need medical or surgical care 
were transported in ambulance trains. Those 
prisoners who were so severely wounded that im- 
mediate transportation was not warranted were 
treated in hospitals in the military zone. At times 
they were found in hospitals with the German 
wounded. Officer prisoners of war were as a rule 
given transportation in passenger coaches of 
third or even second class. 

When a prisoner of war arrived at a camp, 
which had been selected by the military authori- 
ties, he was isolated for a period of three weeks 
in a separate company compound. Intercourse 
with the other prisoners was not permitted and 
only those German officers who were assigned to 
this special duty were permitted in this camp 
area. Even the members of the Embassy Staff 
who were assigned to the work of inspection were 
never permitted to inspect these quarantined pris- 
oners. Inasmuch as these prisoners were recently 
taken, sufficient time had not elapsed for food 
packages to arrive from home and they were com- 
pelled to subsist on the German camp food which 



52 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

added to their other trials was a distinct hard- 
ship. The Irish prisoners at Limburg made of- 
ficial complaint that the camp authorities would 
not permit them to share their bread ration with 
these quarantined French prisoners. 

While this quarantine is a necessary and wise 
precaution it appeared to be unnecessarily and 
harshly carried out. At a time when kindness 
would have meant much in alleviating the fear and 
depression of men recently taken prisoners, close 
confinement and harsh discipline was the rule. 
Like all people engaged in the present war they 
feared the worst and in this their anticipations 
were made real. They experienced the worst 
phase of prison camp life which without much 
trouble could have been entirely avoided. There 
was no particular reason why the physicians as- 
signed to the work of inspection should not have 
inspected this portion of the camp. In some in- 
stances this principle of quarantine was abused 
in order to conceal prisoners whom the German 
Government did not evidently want interviewed 
by the American Embassy. This was true of 
groups taken either in naval engagements or after 
some of the sea raids. 

During this period of detention a careful physi- 
cal survey is made. Prisoners are vaccinated 
against typhoid, smallpox and cholera. He under- 
goes a personal disinfection. All his clothing and 
personal equipment are fumigated or sterilized. 
After the period of detention the prisoners are 



THE PARENT CAMP 53 

then distributed to the various companies in the 
camp. 

There are one hundred and five of these parent 
camps for concentration of prisoners of war in ,X 
Germany. While some of the larger camps are 
located in agricultural districts, the large major- 
ity have evidently been so placed as to furnish 
easy distribution of prisoners of war to the man- 
ufacturing industries of the country. Some of the 
older camps such as those at Parchim and Alten 
Grabow are very large. The camp at Parchim • 

accommodates forty thousand men. Camps are V 
usually built to hold from ten to twelve thousand 
prisoners. Such camps are usually located along 
the lines of railway communications. While they 
are sometimes situated within the confines of a 
town or city they are as a rule found in country 
districts. After some experience in the construc- 
tion of the early camps they followed in a general 
way the same plan. 

As one approached such a camp, long rows of 
rather low buildings built of wood, extending in 
the larger camps, for two or three miles, are seen. 
One or more watch towers, on the platforms of 
which heavy guns are mounted, rise above the 
general camp level. The camp is surrounded by 
two rows of barbed wire approximately twenty 
feet apart. In some camps this again is sur- 
rounded by a board fence twelve to fifteen feet 
high. At the entrance of the camp is situated 
the commandantur ; in this building the officers of 



54 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

the commandant and his staff are housed. The 
camp is divided into blocks and these again into 
smaller areas. A camp of ten thousand men for 
example will be divided up into five blocks sep- 
arated from each other by barbed wire partitions. 
Each block is designed to accommodate a battalion 
of two thousand prisoners. This battalion is 
again divided into companies of two hundred. In 
each compound for such a battalion there will be 
ten barracks each holding two hundred men. In 
the more modern camps each barrack was designed 
for squads of a hundred men with twenty suck 
barracks for each battalion division of the camp. 
The prisoners were not permitted as a rule to go 
from one battalion division to another. Each one 
of these divisions has its own latrines, wash house 
and kitchens. As one views such a camp there is 
nothing particularly picturesque about it. Even 
in well kept camps they appear sordid and un- 
kempt. The prisoners as a rule stand around in 
listless groups. There is a general atmosphere 
of depression. As one enters the average prison 
barrack the unfavorable external appearance is 
somewhat intensified. Low long rows of double 
tier bunks take up the central floor space of the 
barrack. Long tables for serving food are placed 
next to the wall. Bags filled with straw, sea grass 
or paper serve as mattresses. Each prisoner is v 
supplied with two blankets and these are thrown 
over the mattresses. Every available space is 
used for food packages and clothes. The place 



THE PA RUNT CAMP 55 

has a dim, confused, unkempt appearance on ac- 
count of the crowding of men, the arrangement of 
the hunks, food packages, clothes, etc. At one end 
of the barrack a small room is usually walled <>(T 
for the noncommissioned officers. This in fur- 
nished with cots instead of the usual hunk arrange- 
ment. In prison camps where a, single layer of 
bunks for bod arrangement is made, the barrack 
has a much brighter and more cheerful appear- 
ance. This unfavorable clement in appearance 
of the camps therefore is more a matter of the 
number of the prisoners than any particular cle- 
ment or condition in itself. After all the cleanli- 
ness of the barrack is dependent on the men them- 
selves and their noncommissioned officers. In 
the camp at Soltau for example where the con- 
struction and appearance of the camp was every- 
thing one could desire, the attention of the pris- 
oner, noncommissioned officers, had to be called 
to the slovenly picture presented, due to their own 

negligence; and lack of control of their men. 

The barracks were as a, rule heated by stoves 
and during the winter months in some of the 

camps the cooking of the food packages was here 

permitted. The barracks were usually lighted by 
electricity; four cubic feet of air content per man 

was demanded by the inspection. In each camp 
division easily accessible! to the barracks a long 
concrete or wooden wash tub was erected for pur- 
poses of personal cleansing and washing clothes 
which the prisoner of war is expected to do him- 



56 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

self. (In Gottingen this was done in the camp 
laundry.) 

In addition to this a bathing and disinfecting 
establishment was located in a separate barrack 
building. This was divided into a disrobing room 
where a group of the prisoners take off their 
clothes which were then tagged and passed into 
a large, dry-heat sterilizer where a temperature 
of 110° was maintained for twenty minutes. 
While this process was in operation the men 
passed into a second long room, fitted with shower- 
baths with hot and cold water. After a thorough 
soaping and rinsing the men then passed to a 
third room on the other side of the sterilizer, 
where they received their sterilized clothes and 
emerged from the establishment thoroughly clean 
and free from vermin and other carriers of dis- 
ease. Notwithstanding this, however, it was not 
easy for the prisoner of war to maintain a clean, 
soldierly appearance on account of the crowding 
of the barracks, lack of facilities for keeping the 
clothes, and in Northern Germany the dust and 
in wet weather the mud in the camps. 

Kitchens were in a separate building, as a rule, 
and were equipped with a series of large kettles 
in which the food was prepared in the form of 
soup. One of the barracks was usually given over 
to a combination of religious services and for a 
theatre. In many camps, however, separate bar- 
racks were assigned for religious services and 
for entertainments, A part of the camp en- 



THE PARENT CAMP 57 

closure, varying in extent, was kept free for drills 
and athletic exercises. Here at stated periods of 
the day the men were permitted to play football 
or indulge in field sports. A small room in one 
of the barracks or in the administration building 
was assigned for use as a library. Books sent to 
the prisoners were here assembled, and one of the 
prisoners assigned to the duty of librarian. 

In the motley array of French, Eussian, British 
and Servian and Colonial troops found scattered 
through the camp, marking time, was found the 
ever-present German guard. The -members of 
this guard were either members of the Landstrum 
(or older class of reserves) or younger men phy- 
sically unfit for active field service. The num- 
ber of the guard is usually one tenth of the num- 
ber of the prisoners. 

GUARDING THE CAMPS 

As one looks up from almost any portion of the 
prison camp one faces a tower on the elevated 
platform on which guns of medium caliber are so 
placed as to cover every part of the camp. Camp 
guards with fixed bayonets appear to be every- 
where present. This omnipresent guard with his 
fixed bayonet is found with every group of pris- 
oners, either inside of the camp or detached to 
do duty outside. Much depends upon the attitude 
of the camp officers whether the guard takes an 
insolent, insistent attitude or whether, on the 
other hand, he does his duty as a. matter of form. 



58 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

During the night, when every prisoner is supposed 
to be in bed under guard, a night patrol, consist- 
ing of three or four of the guard under a non- 
commissioned officer, makes rounds within the 
camp. Military regulations forbid any intimacy 
between the guard and the prisoner of war and 
any communication between them, except to give 
military orders. The guarding of the prisoners 
of war, however, can be made exceedingly irritat- 
ing and obnoxious or be sympathetic and humane 
within these regulations. Whether it is the one 
or the other depends entirely upon the attitude of 
the commissioned officer in charge. A nagging 
and abusive attitude by the guard sometimes as- 
sociated with actual brutality was a frequent 
source of complaint. In such camps the matter 
of a formal protest was always made to the com- 
mandant and later through the Foreign Office to 
the Ministries of War. In some cases such 
guards were removed; more often, however, no 
action was taken, but the mere fact of a rigid in- 
spection with a complete report usually led the 
camp authorities to the elimination of rough 
handling without, however, any mental change in 
the attitude towards the prisoner. 

What is the daily life of the prisoner of war? 
The prisoner of war goes to bed at night with a 
feeling of depression and uncertain hopelessness, 
in a crowded barrack accentuated in a few camps 
by the presence of police dogs, rough commands 
and the use of bayonets and with insufficient ven- 



THE PARENT CAMP 59 

tilation, when he is housed with French and Bus- 
sian prisoners; he awakens in the morning into 
the same depressed dirty atmosphere with the 
guard standing by with a fixed bayonet which 
again may be used to help the tardy ones into 
promptness. After sufficient time for washing he 
draws his allowance of prison bread and this with 
a cup of coffee substitute forms his breakfast. 
The barrack is then placed in order, blankets are 
folded and the barrack is aired. He then lounges 
listlessly around the camp until ten a. m. when 
the camp is counted. The prisoners are lined up 
in military formation and each answers to his 
prison number. The absence of a prisoner at roll 
call which usually indicates a successful escape 
from the camp means thunder, lightning, turmoil, 
irritation and resentment to every one by the 
military authorities from the commandant down 
to the lowest guard. The roll call usually is a 
simple matter, easily completed and soon over. 
While an escape is a " tragedy" to the officers of 
the camp it is the one gleam of hope to the other 
prisoners of war. The roll call is indefinitely pro- 
longed until the exact escaped prisoner is located. 
I have now a mental picture of several thousand 
men lined up on a hot summer day in company for- 
mation on a parade ground of the hot, dusty camp, 
bored and amused at the frantic efforts of the Ger- 
man officers, sweating and fuming and sputtering 
in their efforts to locate a poor lone prisoner who 
was missing. The reflection that this single es- 



60 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

cape makes on their efficiency makes that particu- 
lar day miserable for every German soldier and 
more miserable than usual for every prisoner of 
war. 

After roll call is completed most of the prison- 
ers again mark time until the noonday meal. This 
is always in the form of soup and is brought to the 
barracks by a detail of prisoners in large cans. 
The British prisoner takes one look at it, sniffs, 
"Not fit for a dog to eat," he says, and turns to a 
can of beef or ham which has been sent to him, digs 
a chunk out of this with a spoon (knives are not 
permitted), tears it to pieces with his fingers and 
eats it with the bread and the jam from his pack- 
\ age. After the midday meal he may be detailed to 
"* clean up camp or may spend his time in washing 
his clothes. In the afternoon he may play foot- 
ball or other simple field games or lounge listlessly 
with the French and Eussian prisoners and specu- 
late on the termination of the war or the varied 
fortunes of his own army. The cocksure attitude 
of his guard, the swagger of the commissioned of- 
ficers, does not tend to lend any bright color to 
such speculations, and so until the evening meal, 
which again may be soup "not fit for a dog to eat," 
or may be, as it usually is, some pickled fish, "dead 
fish" (it needs no careful inspection to tell one 
this) -, with some bread and at times some potatoes. 
The prisoner looks, takes one glance at this l ' dead 
fish," but never disdains potatoes, and turns again 
to his can of meat and pot of marmalade and his 



THE PARENT CAMP 61 

loaf of white bread which has been sent to him 
from Switzerland. A desultory game of cards 
after the evening meal and the tired, loathsome 
day has gone the way of so many, ever so many, 
tired, loathsome, never-ending days, to be followed 
by the beginning of another such day on the mor- 
row. The optimism of the French, the pessimism 
of the Russian, the devil-may-care attitude of the 
Irish, the fighting spirit of the British, makes little 
change in this blue atmosphere of never-ending, 
never-ending depression. It is not the depression 
of the jail, the criminal knowing and deserving 
his sentence ; rather is it a modified woe of calam- 
ity fallen on men for doing what, to them, was 
right, what was even more than right, for their 
God and country. Utterly helpless, they live on 
from day to day, spurred on by the glittering bay- 
onet and hurt in their manhood and souls by the 
insolent attitude, the superior culture of their 
prison keepers. "How long do you think the war 
will last?" I have heard this question asked in 
many places and under varying circumstances, in 
the clubs in America and England, in the cafes in 
Paris, on the streets of all cities, from women in 
villages in France near the battle line whose sons 
were in danger or had disappeared, from German 
officers and German princes (their questions al- 
ways denoted the hour of victory), but until one 
has heard this question asked in prison camps by 
men who have almost given up the hope they have 
lived on from day to day, one will never realize the 



62 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

full, pregnant, hidden meaning that can be crowded 
into these six words. 

Some of the camps are much better than this pic- 
ture would indicate and some of the camps are 
very much worse. From an offhand recollection, 
without referring to records, two camps stand out 
in my memory as examples, one of the best, the 
other of the worst, of these parent camps. The 
camps at Friedrichsfeld and at Minden. 



CHAPTEE VI 

THE CAMP AT ERIEDRICHSFELD 

I HAVE picked out the camp at Friedrichsfeld, 
not because it was a camp of the best or most 
modern construction, because it was not; I 
went to this camp not as a matter of routine in- 
spection but because some complaints had been 
made about it by transferred or interned prison- 
ers. I have selected it as one of the best camps in 
Germany on account of the attitude of the com- 
mandant and by and through him of his staff, non- 
commissioned officers and guard. While the com- 
mandant insisted on the most rigid discipline 
throughout the camp, his intense interest in the 
welfare and everything that pertained to the pris- 
oners was reflected by every one in the camp. The 
camp was organized with the prisoners own non- 
commissioned officers assigned to full duty and 
control of their own men. Only two British pris- 
oners were found in the camp jail, and both of 
these men were sentenced to a period of two weeks 
at the request of their own senior noncommis- 
sioned officer. This trust and confidence placed in 
the prisoners' noncommissioned officers coupled 
with this strict military discipline, the practical 
kindly attitude of the commandant and his staff, 

63 



64 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

make the atmosphere of this camp one of coopera- 
tion and, if not contentment, at least a minimum 
of discontent. 

The camp was an old camp with antiquated bar- 
racks, low and forbidding looking, and with rela- 
tively little ventilation. Changes were, however, 
made in these barracks which made them com- 
fortable and cheerful. The very long barracks 
were divided into two by partitions, reducing them 
to moderate size, a wall was run along one side of 
the barrack and partitions erected to give mod- 
erate-sized rooms. On these partitions lockers 
were built to hold the clothes and food packages. 
Instead of the usual bunk system, low cots made 
of wood, large enough to hold a small mattress and 
the two blankets, made a comfortable bed which 
could be easily taken out in the air for cleansing 
or piled up against the wall during the day to give 
a maximum amount of floor space. 

The walls of these barracks were whitewashed, 
as were likewise the long corridors left at one side. 
In this corridor facilities for washing, basins, etc., 
were placed. The detailed description of this 
camp, with the conditions met with at the time, is 
as follows : 

There are at the present time 7,500 prisoners of 
war in the camp, of which 395 are British. There 
are 37,000 prisoners of war attached to the camp ; 
all, with the exception of 7,500, are in working 
camps. Nine hundred British are at the present 
time in working camps. 




fe 



THE CAMP AT FRIEDRICHSFELD 65 

This camp is located on sandy soil between the 
Lippe and the Ehein. The camp was one of the 
earliest camps constructed. It is divided into 
three separate camps, designated as Camps No. 1, 
2, and 3, within the same enclosure. These camps 
are arranged as battalions in the general form 
of an irregular triangle. Each camp has ten 
large double barracks; at either end of which is 
a water pump, with a large permanent laundry 
trough, used for hand laundry and washing pur- 
poses. 

The water supply is drawn from isolated, pro- 
tected wells sunk at either end of each barrack. 

The hospital is situated in a separate compound 
about one-half kilometer from the camp. The gen- 
eral administration, the store houses, the post 
office, and the guard are all housed in a separate 
compound at the entrance to the camp. The quad- 
rangle has an unusually large amount of space, 
some of which is devoted to exercise, etc. The 
camp is tastefully decorated with flower beds in 
front of each barrack. An open air concert hall 
has just been completed for band concerts. In ad- 
dition to this, there is a theatre, a cinematograph 
barrack, a church barrack, a photographic studio, 
a printing office, an art room, a physical-culture 
room, a school for language study, a science room 
and a large barrack devoted to the re-education 
of injured prisoners, which will be described in 
detail later. 

The kitchens are placed at one end q£ the long 



66 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

barracks and the latrines at the opposite end of 
the camp. 

The barracks are approximately 300 x 600 feet 
and 14 feet high. Each barrack has 14 large win- 
dows and 16 ventilating flues in the roof. The 
barracks are divided by a closed partition into two 
large barracks rooms. Each of these large rooms 
is subdivided into eight smaller rooms by parti- 
tions about nine feet high. A hallway is left at one 
side extending the length of the barrack. Each 
of these smaller rooms is 50 x 36 feet, having two 
windows on either side and two ventilating flues. 
On the average, 40 men are housed in each of 
these rooms. The capacity when filled is 55. At 
the end of each barrack two smaller rooms are 
given over to the noncommissioned officers. In 
one of the rooms eight Sergeants are housed, and 
in the other room two sergeant-majors. Closets 
are "built in" on the partitions around the bar- 
racks to house toilet articles, etc.; clothes-racks 
are placed in the long hall for wearing apparel. 
Separate wash basins for the men, with water 
pitchers, are placed in the hall for each room. At 
the entrance of each barrack a barber shop with a 
prisoner of war barber is installed. 

The interior of the barracks were all white- 
washed and presented a clean and orderly appear- 
ance. The beds are made up in cradles made of 
wood, in which a straw mattress is placed, these 
are placed on each other against the wall, giving a 
large area of free space for tables, benches, etc. 



THE CAMP AT FRIEDRICHSFELD 67 

These bed sacks are carried out into the sun and 
thoroughly aired each week. 

The latrines are placed at the far end of the 
compound. There are thirty six latrines in the 
camp. These are of two kinds: thirty of them 
are of the concrete-cistern type, with uncovered 
and covered seats ; a urinal is at one end. These 
are emptied daily, are free from odor and excep- 
tionally clean. The other type is a concrete-cis- 
tern type with a water flushing system with five 
covered seats and a separate urinal. These were 
also clean and in good condition. 

There is a combined bath and disinfection plant. 
This is located in a large frame building with a 
disrobing room equipped with steam ovens for the 
disinfection of clothes ; a large bathroom furnished 
with 96 showers with, hot and cold water; and a 
dressing room on the other side of the disinfection 
room. Baths are insisted upon once per week and 
may be taken oftener. 

There are twenty kitchens distributed through- 
out the camp. Only four are now in operation. 
Each contains four kettles and a range. The 
kitchen for the British was carefully inspected. It 
was found to be in a clean and orderly condition. 
Two British were found in this kitchen who had 
charge of the preparation of the food, which is 
prepared differently for the French and English 
according to their tastes. 

Sergeant "W. J. P., Irish Bines, is in charge of 
the kitchen. The food for the noon-day meal was 



68 THE PRISONER OP WAR IN GERMANY 

ready for distribution. It consisted of a soup 
made of white beans, potatoes, cabbage, maize 
grease and margarine. We tested it and found 
it to be of good flavor and palatable. The British 
cook stated that all food stuffs used in the kitchen 
were of good quality and that practically all of the 
British partook of the noon-day meal. 

The store houses were inspected. There were 
three separate houses for storing of food supplies. 
There were large stores of new potatoes, head let- 
tuce and Kohlrabi. We inspected and tasted the 
marmalade, soja-meal, dried con-fish, condensed 
milk, and bread, all of which were found to be of 
good quality. The bread is now made without 
the addition of potatoes. 

There are two rooms, in one of which clothing of 
all kinds, shoes, including tennis shoes, tennis 
racquets, toilet articles, watches, wood carving, 
and art utensils were sold ; in the other room sar- 
dines, several varieties of canned vegetables and 
canned fruits, herring, marmalade, meat extracts, 
soft drinks and wine could be obtained at current 
prices. In a separate building a fair grade of tea 
and coffee can be bought for five pfennigs per pot 
(two cents). The coffee is roasted and prepared 
in the camp. 

The mail arrives regularly, from three to four 
weeks. Parcels also arrive regularly, and are ex- 
peditiously handled. Parcels are distributed to 
the barracks on the day of arrival, and are dis- 
patched to working camps within twenty four 



THE CAMP AT FRIEDRICHSFELD 69 

hours. There were four British working in this 
department. 

All the British had sufficiently good clothes and 
shoes. The care and distribution of clothes to the 
men in the camp and in working camps was in 
charge of one of the British sergeant majors. 

Foot ball, tennis, and field sports are all freely 
permitted in the camp. Theatrical performances, 
in which the British take an active part, are fre- 
quently given in a well-equipped theatre barrack. 
Cinematograph exhibitions are also frequently 
given. 

There are two infirmaries in the main camp. 
There were no British in either at the time of the 
inspection. The main hospital is housed in a large 
brick building and ten barrack buildings. A well- 
equipped operating room with dispensary room, 
etc., is provided. All the hospital buildings were 
found to be clean, well ventilated, and the patients 
were satisfied with the food and medical attention. 
German army surgeons take care of the men. 

A physical culture room is fitted up with special 
apparatus for the correction of deformities. It is 
not connected with the hospital system and is in 
charge of a French prisoner of war. 

A large barrack with six rooms is devoted to 
the re-education of wounded soldiers. At the time 
of our inspection one hundred and fifty or more 
prisoners of war were occupied in classes in book- 
binding, basket-weaving, watchmaking, wood carv- 
ing, lithographic printing, typewriting, shoe-makr 



70 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

ing, tailoring, painting, photography, and in the 
usual scholastic exercises. In a separate building 
carpentering and black-smithing were also taught. 
This department of the camp, and the spirit that 
prompted it, deserves special praise and commen- 
dation. 

The men are requested to do the camp work. 
The noncommissioned officers in the camp are not 
required to work, but many have volunteered for 
work in the post office, kitchen, etc. 

Eev. Mr. W occasionally visits the camp. 

At other times one of the noncommissioned offi- 
cers reads the services. A French priest who 
speaks excellent English, holds the services for the 
French and English Eoman Catholics. A taste- 
fully decorated barrack is set aside for church pur- 
poses. 

A well equipped library exists in this camp. In 
addition to this, in each of the British barracks two 
book shelves piled with English books, are placed 
in the hallways. 

The British requested that a place be set aside 
for cooking the food received in the parcels sent 
from home. During the winter this was done in 
the barracks. The commandant promised that a 
place should be provided. 

Some of the men who had been in some of the 
working camps complained that their clothes had 
not been returned to the parent camp, when they 
left the working camps. There was some question 
here also for charge for alteration of clothes sent 



THE CAMP AT FKIEDRICHSFELD 71 

from home and repairing these. The comman- 
dant promised to make an immediate investigation 
of this and to correct it. 

While the camp was found exceptionally clean 
and free from vermin, it was found difficult, on ac- 
count of the nature of the soil, to keep the camp 
entirely free from fleas. Every effort is being 
made to control this matter and a new method is, 
now being tried with this end in view. 

This camp in spite of its being of the older type 
of construction, has been so remodelled as to make 
it very comfortable. There is a splendid organiza- 
tion of the camp, and every effort is being made to 
make the men comfortable, guard their health, give 
them mental and physical relaxation, and to refit 
them for more useful work in the future. The 
health of the men is good, and the spirit of the 
men towards their own officers and the camp au- 
thorities is exceptionally good. The ranking non- 
commissioned officer, Sergeant Major P. C , 

has the confidence of the camp authorities and his 
men, and deserves mention for his care and control 
of the men in his camp. 

A simple perusal of these notes made in the or- 
dinary routine of inspection survey gives a very 
good idea of the impression this camp made upon 
one accustomed to view camps from a purely scien- 
tific standpoint. Too much cannot be said in 
praise of the commandant, who was interested not 
only in the present welfare of his prisoners, but 
was also concerned with their future field of use- 



72 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

fulness after the termination of the war. One 
could forgive short comings in other directions but 
none appeared to exist. The atmosphere of the 
camp hospital situated at some distance from the 
camp was kindly and sympathetic. It will also be 
noted the many opportunities for physical and 
mental relaxation. The attitude towards the taste 
of the prisoner in the question of diet was consid- 
ered. This was one of the few camps in Germany 
where the prison food was taken by practically all 
the British prisoners. There was the usual ab- 
sence of complaints about the food, confirming the 
statement of the British cook in the kitchen in ref- 
erence to the same matter. The school for the re- 
education of wounded prisoners compares favor- 
ably if it does not surpass similar institutions for 
the re-education of wounded soldiers (not prison- 
ers) in France, England and also in Germany. 
Each department was in charge of a prisoner of 
war, who acted as a teacher and disciplinarian. In 
other camps in Germany I have met men who 
requested to be sent back to this camp in order to 
continue their education in one of these depart- 
ments. Yet, notwithstanding this, this camp was 
>\ reported as unsatisfactory and was placed on the 
records of the Eed Cross Headquarters in London 
as a bad camp. 

In the camp at Soltau a careful inspection with 
the privilege of complaint extended to every man 
in the camp, not a single complaint was registered, 
except in reference to the food and as to the rate 



THE CAMP AT FRIEDRICHSFELD 73 

of exchange. And yet there was no comparison 
between the two camps. While the camp at Soltau 
was a newly constructed camp with a much more 
modern type of barrack, etc., and while the men 
were well housed and well cared for, there was not 
that kindly, humane sympathy that took cogni- 
zance not only of the present needs, but considered 
the future and led to a definite effort to relieve the 
mental stress of confinement and to eliminate the 
worry as to the future. The same can be said in 
a general way of the camp at Parchim. Here were 
found three brothers, civilians interned, who were 
given the privilege of being transferred from this 
prison camp to the Euhleben, but who preferred to 
remain on account of the attitude of kindly welfare 
of the commandant and his staff towards them and 
the other prisoners. 

What ,the commandant at the camp at Fried- 
richsfeld was doing for the prisoners of war was 
well known in the other army corps. It was an 
example which could have been followed in every 
prison camp in Germany. Notwithstanding the 
food blockade, it was here proven possible for Ger- 
many to have set an example for the rest of the 
world in a constructive as it has in a destructive 
military problem. 

It would, indeed, for one trained as a student in 
German universities, be a pleasant duty to be able 
to report that all the German prison camps had the 
atmosphere of Friedrichsf eld or even without the 
spirit of this camp, that they approached the stand- 



74 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

ard set at Parchim, Soltau, Dulmen, Wahn, Wuns- 
dorf, and many other German parent camps, or 
that the problem of the enlisted men should have 
been approached in the same spirit as that of the 
officers, prisoners of war, concerning whom cer- 
tainly after the first year of the war there could be 
no valid complaint. The contrast between the 
above named camps and those at Minden, Limburg, 
Wittenberg, Schneidemuhl, Langensalzen, etc., was 
the difference between day and night, between 
heaven, relatively, and hell, absolutely. Between 
these two extremes existed a series of camps such 
as those at Muchendorf, Alten-Grabow, Giessen, 
Dyrotz, etc., where conditions were neither good 
nor very bad, yet presented certain elements which 
gave more than reasonable ground for complaint, 
both on the part of the prisoners and the Embassy. 
It is difficult to estimate the exact proportions of 
good and bad camps. One might say in a general 
way that the average was relatively good consider- 
ing the difficulties of the situation and the size of 
the problem to be faced; and were it not for the 
problem of the working camp to be discussed later, 
and were we to consider only the parent camps and 
the officer camps, the verdict would be in a general 
way "not guilty" to the charge of inefficiency, de- 
liberate or intentional cruelty in the handling of 
this problem. One might go even further and say 
that taking the problem as a whole and for the ma- 
jority of the camps, it was fairly well administered, 
and in some of the camps exceptionally well done. 



THE CAMP AT FRIEDRICHSFELD 75 

The attitude, however, towards the prisoner when 
the working camp problem was interjected, throws 
much light on many problems and explains the un- 
derlying factors of many of the faults which might 
otherwise in a charitable way be explained as neg- 
ligence, so to speak, due to inefficiency. I know 
that my own point of view, my attitude at the pres- 
ent time, after deliberate consideration, free from 
a hostile atmosphere, has largely been determined 
by these ulterior considerations. My considera- 
tions, therefore, of the problem of some of the 
worst types of camp must be taken into consider- 
ation and be explained by the material in the chap- 
ter on working camps. 



CHAPTER L Vn 

the camp: AT MINDEN" 

WHILE much publicity has been given to the 
camp at Wittenberg, I will consider 
first of all the problem of the camp at Minden, 
for the simple reason that while there might be 
some excuse to offer for Wittenberg, no excuse 
was offered or presented for the conditions found 
at Minden. Following the course of the preced- 
ing chapter, I will present my notes made at the 
time of the inspection of this camp and discuss it 
later. 

There are in the camp 8,682 prisoners of war, 
of whom 615 are British, and of the British, 357 
are noncommissioned officers. 

This camp has been described in previous re- 
ports. The camp is arranged in a block system, 
with the barracks of each block arranged in such 
a way as to form a square with an open area in the 
court of about one hundred metres square. There 
are five blocks. As arranged at the present time 
each block is completely separated from the other 
blocks. The prisoners of war in each block are 
absolutely limited to this block area, are not per- 
mitted outside of it, and as the barracks, except for 

the small gateway, completely enclose this area, 

?6 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 77 

there is no opportunity to see anything other than 
the four barrack brick walls and the open sky 
above. There are no trees or shade in this area, 
and the outlook, or rather inlook, is dismal. In 
Block I, where the enlisted men are confined, a few 
flowers are grown in the window tops of the bar- 
racks, but in Block V, where the noncommissioned 
officers are confined, there is not even evidence of 
this. The surface area is of hard yellow clay with- 
out any grass or other evidence of vegetation. In 
the space in this court, which is not taken up with 
the kitchen, latrines, etc., the men play football. 

The British are housed in the long barracks 
forming the walls of the square. These barracks 
are old and dingy, are of the hut type with slightly 
inclined roof, from front to rear, and are approx- 
imately 100 feet x 50; with an average ceiling 
height of approximately 16 feet. There are 
twenty four windows in the front of the barrack, 
with four small openings one by two feet at the 
rear of the barrack, with two stove pipe openings 
in the roof. The British complained that the roof 
leaked during the month that they had been in- 
terned there. An inspection of the roof showed 
places where the men had packed boxes against 
the roof over their beds to keep out the leaking 
water. The attention of the commandant and the 
inspection officer from the Inspection for Pris- 
oners of War, 7th Army Corps at Munster, was 
called to this, and the commandant stated that the 
roofs required constant attention and the applica- 



78 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

tion of tar to keep them water-tight. This was 
being done at the time of our inspection. The beds 
are of the double tier, built-in, bunk type, supplied 
with straw or excelsior mattresses, and two blan- 
kets to each. Much of the material of the mat- 
tresses was badly worn and pulverized, and some 
of the bedding was very dirty. In Block I, Bar- 
rack No. 35, 180 were housed, of whom 33 were 
British enlisted men. The numbers of men per 
barrack in Block V appeared to be greater than 
this, but the exact number could not be obtained. 

There are two long latrines in each block. They 
are of the trench type, lined with wood, open bar 
system, uncovered, no seats, emptied each day (ac- 
cording to the camp authorities). At the time of 
the inspection they were partially rilled and did 
not present an unusually objectionable odor. The 
men complained that the trenches were not emp- 
tied oftener than once a week, and that the odor 
from them was objectionable. 

A long urinal, approximately 100 feet in length, 
of the open trough type of wood, was attached to 
the wall in the open, without housing, was heavily 
incrusted with deposit and presented a strong odor 
and filthy appearance. 

In a barrack building in the middle of the block 
is a bath, equipped with 14 showers (hot and cold 
water) ; a dressing room adjoins the bath room. 
This building was found to be in a clean and or- 
derly condition. 

In another building in the centre of the square 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 79 

sufficient facilities for washing and hand laundry 
are supplied by three long oblong tubs, each fur- 
nished with twenty seven spigots. This room was 
kept clean and orderly. 

The kitchen is housed in a large barrack building 
in the outside group of each block. It is clean, or- 
derly and in good condition. Each kitchen is 
equipped with seventeen kettles and two ranges. 
Two British prisoners of war are employed in each 
kitchen. These men stated that the raw food 
stuffs supplied to the kitchen were of good quality. 
The midday meal on the day of inspection was' 
tasted by one of us (Taylor). It consisted of 
meat, sauerkraut and potatoes. It was very thin 
in potatoes and meat. The sauerkraut was of fair 
quality and of normal taste. 

The bread is the regular Kriegs-Brot of normal 
quality; the ration being three hundred grammes' 
per day, per man. The British employed in the 
kitchen stated that approximately one fourth of 
the British prisoners of war took the midday meal 
and from a quarter to a third drew the bread ra- 
tion. The men were permitted to cook the food in 
the packages received from home, in one of two 
long open air ranges in the middle of the block. 
One kettle in the kitchen is reserved for warming 
up tin foods. 

The canteen is housed in the kitchen building. 
Wine, alcohol-free beer, soft drinks, various and 
sundry toilet articles and tobacco are on sale. 

The infirmary, fifty by thirty five feet, with eight 



80 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

windows, in which fifteen cot beds were placed, was 
inspected in Block V. A British prisoner of war, 

Private , had been confined to this barrack 

for six weeks, suffering from convulsive seizures 
following an old injury of the head. This man 
had been investigated by the X-Kay and nothing 
abnormal found. At our request, this man is to 
be removed to a hospital where his case can be 
more carefully studied and proper treatment in- 
stituted. Complaints were registered in both 
Blocks I and V, that men were punished by con- 
finement in Straf-Barracken, or punishment bar- 
racks, for reporting ill to sick call. These men 
were confined in the Straf-Barracken at the time of 
our visit who, as far as they knew, were there for 
this reason. 

In Block I, Private H. T complained that he 

was ordered to rest up by the doctor for some heart 
trouble. He stated that he remained in the bar- 
racks under the doctor's orders and for this he was 
sent to the arrest barracks for ten days. 

Private B stated that he was working in a 

camp at Bockhurst, that he was ill with rheuma- 
tism, but the guard would not permit him to see a 
doctor. He was returned to this camp (Minden) 
and placed in the jail barrack for fourteen days. 
At the end of two days of this sentence he was so 
ill that he had to be taken out of the prison dark- 
cell by order of the camp doctor and sent to the 
hospital. 

In Block V, Sergeant C complained that he 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 81 

could not get proper medical attention or cotton 
to care for running ears. 

Sergeant W. E complained that he did not 

procure proper medical attention for pains in the 
head and treatment or the necessary methods of 
cleansing the socket from which the right eye had 
been removed, and that he feared loss of sight in 
the remaining eye, which was giving him trouble. 
At the time of inspection there was an accumula- 
tion of purulent matter in and about the eye socket, 
and it was evidently in need of attention with some 
cleansing solution. It was evident that the eye 
had been neglected, as any one could see on inspec- 
tion that it needed treatment. 

Sergeant W. M claimed that an operation 

for hemorrhoids was refused if he would not 
agree to volunteer for work; that he finally con- 
sented and an operation was performed, and his 
name was placed on the working list. He asked to 
have his name removed as he might be compelled 
to go to a working camp at any time. When this 
case was investigated it was found that there was 
evidently a misunderstanding on account of poor 
interpreting. The doctor stated to him that an 
operation was not necessary unless he were going 
to do hard work. But he, misunderstanding this, 
and wishing relief, agreed to work and his name 
was placed on the list. Accepting the statements 
of both sides, it is only fair to have this name re- 
moved. 

In each barrack the men complained in a general 



82 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

way that if they reported ill they were likely to be 
punished. 

The camp lazarett was visited and only a few 
men of the 198 British there were from this camp. 

The others were brought there from the front. 

This will be considered later in this report. 

Packages and letters come irregularly. Two 
British were employed in the post office and two 
in the parcel post. 

The men were compelled to do the necessary 
camp work. 

All the British had sufficient good clothes and 
shoes. 

There is no library in this camp. 

The punishment barrack was visited. It is an 
empty barrack room in Block 3, which contains no 
other prisoners at the present time. Five Brit- 
ish were confined here. Two of these were con- 
fined for refusing to work. The other three men, 

Privates W , Q , and J , stated that 

they did not know why they were being punished, 
and had done nothing to warrant their confinement 
except to report sick. One of these claimed that 
his case had been diagnosed in the hospital as 
chronic tuberculosis of the lungs, and that he now 
has the symptoms of that disease. 

This barrack has a barbed wire barrier in front 
of the door. A sentry is stationed in the barrack, 
and the men are not supplied with blankets or mat- 
tresses, but must sleep on the bare floor in their 
clothes. They are not permitted to have their 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 83 

packages, and must subsist on the camp food. 
They are not permitted a change of clothes. Not- 
withstanding the above, the commandant stated 
that these men were not under arrest and when a 
statement was requested as to why the above three 
men did not know why they were confined there, 
no one seemed able to explain the matter or to give 
us any information concerning it. 

Complaints were made in both Blocks I and V, 
that police dogs were brought into the barrack 
rooms at night and cleared the barracks so that 
men had to be in bed before the dogs were brought 
in. The dogs were kept in the square at night. 
The men stated that the dogs were set loose in 
the barrack rooms. 

Sergeant W. H was attacked by one of these 

dogs in the night of July 2nd, as he crossed this 
square returning to his barrack from the latrine. 
He exhibited his leg, which bore the recent scars 
where he had been bitten. The commandant made 
the statement that this case had been reported to 
him by the guard, who reported that the dog had 
broken the leash and had attacked the prisoner of 

war. H stated in contradiction to this that he 

did not hear any one until he was attacked but that 
shortly after the guard appeared and called the 

dog off. The dog, from H 's statement, was 

loose in the compound. He was taken to the in- 
firmary and the wounds given treatment imme- 
diately. 

In explanation of the necessity for the presence 



84 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

and use of the dogs in the camp, the commandant 
stated that attempts at escape by tunneling were 
so frequent that the dogs were trained to detect 
men in this act. He stated that at night they were 
taken into the barrack rooms and sent under all the 
bunks, and they were then taken out and sent 
through openings under the barracks to detect any 
such attempts. He stated, in contradiction to the 
men, that the dogs were always held in leash, and 
not permitted to run free. A strong protest was 
made by us to the use of the animals inside the 
camp both to the commandant and the inspection 
officer from the Inspection for Prisoners of War of 
the 7th Army Corps. 

Complaint was made by the three Sergeants Ma- 
jors (British) that all the British noncommis- 
sioned officers in Block V were compelled to drill 
v twice a week for one hour, and then to march for 
*^an hour, taking commands from a German private 
in German, which they were compelled to learn and 
obey. They stated that they would not have so 
much objection to carrying out the drill if the 
commands were given by a German noncommis- 
sioned officer, or if they (the sergeant majors) 
were given the word of command and transmitted 
it to the men. The influence of the Sergeant Ma- 
jors over their men was undermined in this way 
and considerable friction had developed because 
the sergeants and corporals had difficulty in under- 
standing the German commands even when an 
interpreter was present to translate them. iWhen 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 85 

this matter was taken up, it was stated that a Ger- 
man common soldier outranks any officer prisoner 
of war in the camp when carrying out orders, and 
that no indignity was intended; that the drilling 
was necessary in order to teach the noncommis- 
sioned officers military attitude, carriage, and re- 
spect to higher rank. The noncommissioned of- 
ficers stated that they considered this drill as a 
punishment for their refusal to volunteer for work. 

Complaint was made by a number of men that 
the rate of exchange for money was lower than the 

market rate. Sergeant G. R made a special 

complaint that he was offered M. 20.33 in exchange 
for a money order for £1. He declined to take this 
and requested that the money order be returned to 
the sender in Great Britain. The camp authorities 
declined to do this and, on his refusal to sign a re- 
ceipt, deposited the 20.33 Marks to his credit. We 
were told that this was a matter of military regula- 
tion and that nothing could be done. 

Complaint was made that many of the noncom- 
missioned officers were suffering from the result 
of old wounds and were not in condition for work, 
and for that reason should not be confined to this 
camp. The commandant stated that the chief med- 
ical officer of the camp had examined all these men 
and had reported them fit for work. 

Some ten noncommissioned officers had been 
removed to this camp from places where they were 
already at work, more particularly those from the 
officers camp at Gutersloh, and resented the trans- 



86 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

fer, but were not willing to again volunteer for 
work, when the offer was made in our presence. 
Special Report on the Lazarette. (Hospital.) 
The lazarette of this camp is situated outside of 
the camp in a separate compound. It is composed 
of six wooden camp barracks, simple gable type, 
each approximately 180 by 40 feet, 12 feet high 
with 20 windows on each side and 12 ventilators. 
Each barrack is divided into two rooms by a parti- 
tion at the end of each barrack. When this hos- 
pital was inspected, it was found that the hospital 
barracks were overcrowded. The beds were ar- 
ranged in most of the barracks in double rows, i.e., 
four rows of beds in each, filled for the most part 
with badly wounded men, transported almost di- 
rectly from the battle line to this hospital. These 
wounded men were held at a field hospital for a 
period of time, varying from a few days to a week, 
and then transported directly here by ambulance 
railway train. In other words this temporary, 
crudely constructed camp lazarette intended for 
the incidental case of illness of prisoners of war, 
and without the equipment in the nature of oper- 
ating rooms, dressing rooms, special apparatus, 
nursing staff, etc., was, practically without any 
preliminary notice, transformed into a first base 
hospital. A large number of the men are severely 
wounded, several of them at the time of inspec- 
tion critically ill, two practically in a dying condi- 
tion, and all of them, in our opinion, with insuffi- 
cient nursing attention. It was stated by one of 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 87 

the orderlies that some of these patients had devel- 
oped bedsores. Inasmuch as we are not allowed 
to examine patients or to interrogate them as to 
these matters, this statement must be taken reserv- 
edly. The nursing is done by hospital orderlies. 
There are no women trained nurses in the place. 
Many of the patients had fever, some of them 
having temperatures as high as 103°F-104°F. 
The diet was complained of by these very sick pa- 
tients. They stated they could not take it. The 
convalescent patients, on the other hand, com- 
plained that they did not have sufficient food. 

There are a relatively large number of eye cases, 
five or six, who ought to have the services of a 
trained eye specialist. 

Five deaths have occurred in this group of 
wounded. Four of these have been from tetanus 
and a fifth severe case of tetanus is now under 
treatment. 

The only explanation of the crowding of the 
wards, with some empty half-barracks without 
beds is evidently a question of nursing and care 
with the present staff. 

An English noncommissioned officer is present 
in the hospital as interpreter. The senior non- 
commissioned officers at the camp requested per- 
mission to be assigned to the camp to help. This 
was refused. The noncommissioned officer inter- 
preter at the camp requested permission to get in 
touch with the men in Blocks I and V in order to 
secure food from packages. This had been denied 



88 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

but would be granted, dependent on the permission 
of the chief medical officer in each case. 

Sergeant M , a lay reader of the Church of 

England, interned in Block V, had requested per- 
mission to visit the sick and dying prisoners in or- 
der to give them religious consolation, or to help 
in the hospital. This was refused. On taking this 
up with the commandant the latter eventually con- 
sented to permit Sergeant M to visit the hos- 
pital to attend those seriously ill, but stated that 
full consent to visit the men in the hospital would 
not be granted until his ecclesiastical credentials 
had been submitted and approved. Sergeant 
M — — stated that a certificate as a lay reader had 
been issued to him by the Bishop of London but 
that he did not have it with him. This matter, we 
have been informed by the inspector at Munster, 
was' under investigation at the time of our visit. 

Throughout the inspection of the above camp we 
Were accompanied by the commandant and his 
staff, and by a staff officer from the Inspection of 
Prisoners of War at the 7th Army Corps at Mun- 
ster. All of the above matters complained of were 
taken up and investigated at the time by the above 
officers, and the undersigned and the notice here 
reported taken from this joint investigation. 

In a letter accompanying this report it is stated 
in contrasting this camp with the one at Dulmen 
and Friedrichsfeld that: 

' ' The camp at Minden could, on the other hand, 
be used as a model of what a camp for prisoners of 




An interesting pair of Serbian prisoners 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 89 

war ought not to be. It is built in a relatively un- 
healthy location, of poor general plan, and as ad- 
ministered, is more of an actual prison for the 
men, more particularly the non-commissioned offi- 
cers, than the jail at Cologne, without any of the 
redeeming features of the latter. The attitude to- 
wards the prisoners of war it not only not sympa- 
thetic, but, on the contrary, a hard attitude of sus- 
picion and repression that appears to us to verge 
on real intentional cruelty. The locking up of 
these men in blocks without opportunity for men- 
tal relaxation, etc., is likely, if persisted in, to have 
serious results in the mental tone and attitude of 
these prisoners, and may eventually lead to a mu- 
tinous attitude on the part of the men, for which if 
it should occur, the authorities would have only 
themselves to thank. 

"It appears to us that notwithstanding the rea- 
sons given in the report on Minden for certain 
regulations such as the drill of the noncommis- 
sioned officers, the revision of barracks, the refusal 
to let the men have matches, soap, etc., the real 
spirit of such regulations is to force the noncom- 
missioned officers to volunteer for work and to pun- 
ish them if they do not. 

"We can see no reason why the noncommis- 
sioned officers should not be placed in a camp by 
themselves if they refuse or if they encourage 
others by their example, but we cannot see any 
reason why they should not be treated in such 
camps as noncommissioned officer prisoners of 



90 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

war instead of as criminals. In other words, they 
ought to have that amount of liberty, mental and 
physical relaxation and occupation necessary for 
good mental and physical health. And all this 
notwithstanding an effort to keep these reports so 
well within the truth as to be more than fair and 
notwithstanding the fact that a copy of such a re- 
port was automatically sent to the German Minis- 
try of War, and by them through the army corp 
commander to the commandant of the camp. Ac- 
cording to the Hague Convention, officers are not 
compelled to work. There was a tacit agreement 
that noncommissioned officers would be included in 
this arrangement in order to protect their own non- 
commissioned officers in France and Eussia, Italy 
and England, they would not compel or order non- 
commissioned officers of the grade of sergeant ma- 
jor, sergeant or corporal to work. They were 
asked to volunteer for work and if they refused to 
do so, they were confined in camps such as that at 
Minden. The camp at Minden was deliberately 
selected on account of the block system and for the 
opportunities there presented for making the lives 
of the men so miserable that they would prefer 
anything to this. They did not calculate, however, 
on the fighting spirit of the British and the French 
noncommissioned officer. This camp is in contra- 
vention to the Hague Convention that "the pris- 
n oner of war can only be confined as an indispen- 
sable minimum of safety." 
It was used as a prison in which was added bru- 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 91 

tal treatment by the guards and an attitude to- 
wards the sick prisoner in the camp which is inde- 
fensible even from a prison standpoint. It may be 
stated also that this attitude was not only extended 
to the prisoners, but in a way included the Inspec- 
tion Service of the American Embassy. Every 
attempt to communicate with the prisoner alone 
was met by an attempt on the part of some Ger- 
man interpreter to sneak sufficiently close to over- 
hear conversation. This even went so far that an 
attitude of contempt and sneering suspicion on the 
part of one of the commanding officers of the com- 
mandant's staff persisted in through the consider- 
ation of the many complaints filed by the prisoner, 
that I was eventually compelled to protest in jus- 
tice to myself and the prisoners that unless the 
offending officer withdrew that I would refuse to 
continue the inspection. The commandant then 
relieved this officer from duty with the inspection 
party. This was only a part and parcel of an at- 
mosphere of insincerity and concealment that per- 
meated the entire inspection and the camp. The 
statement made in the letter to the ambassador 
that the treatment of these men would have such a 
result upon the mental tone as to lead to a mutin- 
ous attitude had more ground than appeared in the 
report. During this inspection the Eussian pris- 
oners of war to the number of a hundred or more, 
surrounded the inspection party and demanded in 
such a violent way that they be relieved from such 
unbearable conditions that it looked for a moment 



92 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

as if actual violence would be done on the German 
officers. While the appeal was made to me, repre- 
senting the American Embassy, I explained that 
this matter was entirely outside my providence. 
The staff officer from the Army Corps Headquar- 
ters tried to quiet the men by stating to them that 
they should write to Eussia demanding that their 
interests should be placed in the hands of some 
neutral country. It was perfectly evident from 
the mental attitude and rebellious conduct of these 
men that they were not of sound mind and with 
little further provocation or if even they then had 
available weapons that violence could have been 
expected. To be able to correct some of the condi- 
tions in this camp, to be of even small assistance 
to such suffering human beings was at least some 
compensation for the trials and tribulations of this 
work. Eef orms insisted upon and effected for the 
British and Servian prisoners here confined, were 
naturally extended to all the prisoners irrespective 
of nationality. While the barbarous spirit at the 
bottom of the atmosphere of this camp could not 
be entirely eliminated, the more serious evils were 
corrected, as was shown by a follow up inspection. 
This was an example of a repression type of camp, 
several of which existed in Germany (Langen- 
salza, etc.). 

To add to all of this the pitiable spectacle of the 
hospital attached to this camp was almost too much 
for a human being to stand, either with equanim- 
ity or without emotional disturbance. To have 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 93 

placed such a large number of such seriously \f 
wounded men jammed together in such crude bar- 
racks with insufficient medical attention, no nurs- 
ing worthy of the name, and with such food as nor- 
mal men could not eat, was a blunder, and a blot 
on German science, worse even than what occurred 
at Wittenberg. What possible excuse to send men 
to such barracks and to such a camp, could be 
offered, I cannot well imagine. I had already in- 
spected hospitals nearer the front, well equipped 
for such work and not overcrowded. Even had 
these men been sent to the camp attached at Fried- 
richsfeld there would at least have been a sympa- 
thetic attitude and a serious effort made to over- 
come what shortcomings might have there ex- 
isted. When to the sight of men sick and suffer- 
ing and dying in the throes of lockjaw, with a 
dirty towel between the teeth, men dying prisoners 
in a foreign land without a gentle voice or sympa- 
thetic hand to ease their suffering, there was 
added the brutal, blind obedience to regulation, 
that would withhold religious consolation when it 
was at hand and anxious to help, this indeed sur- 
passes all human understanding. 

If one stops to analyze the relationship of the 
atmosphere in the hospital to that of the camp, it 
must become evident that to the military authori- 
ties in charge of the camp, and who were evidently 
selected for this particular duty, were incompetent 
to face the situation thrust upon them in connec- 
tion with the wounded prisoners of war. Cer- 



94 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

tainly it was the duty of a commandant with the 
rank of general to protest to the proper authorities 
against this condition of affairs. Inasmuch as this 
was not done the same heartless attitude permitted 
and even stimulated in the main camp, could be 
expected still to be manifest in the hospital for 
wounded men. In this particular instance these 
officers, even if they had so desired, could not 
carry out a brutal system in one portion of the 
camp and change it to a sympathetic, humane at- 
titude across a barb-wire barrier in the same camp. 
I do not see how any man with human instincts 
could permit a single day to pass with such condi- 
tions existing and for which he was responsible, 
without attempting to remedy them. 

The Repression camp or that portion of it for 

i correction of prisoners of war at Langensalza, 

represents the same general atmosphere except to 

a less marked degree than that exhibited at Min- 

den. 

An entirely different manifestation of this same 
spirit is shown in the attitude of the commandant 
at Schmiedmuhl. In this same camp were twenty 
nine thousand prisoners, one hundred and sixty 
men were confined under arrest; of the hundred 
and sixty under arrest nine were British. The 
consideration of these will give some idea of the 
German idea of justice as applied to the prisoner 
of war in this camp. 

Pkison Babeack: The prison barrack was in- 
spected and found to be approximately fifty by 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 95 

fifty by nine feet (walled) with twelve windows. 
One hundred and sixty men were confined here 
under arrest. Upon our representation to the 
commandant that the barrack was overcrowded 
he stated that he recognized this, but that, pending 
the construction of another barrack, no other pro- 
visions could be made. There were no cots or 
bunks ; the blankets of the men were rolled up on 
the floor. The men were not permitted to smoke, 
play cards or have tea. They were confined to the 
barrack throughout the entire twenty four hours, 
except for one hour each day, when they were taken 
out for exercise. 

Of the hundred and sixty men under arrest, nine 
are British. Of these one is a colonel sergeant 
major, one a lance corporal and seven privates. 

The cases of S and S were individual 

cases of arrest. The seven privates were grouped 
as one process involving the same offence. 

All of these men complained of the handling of 
their cases and their punishment and requested 
that the matter be reported to the Embassy. 

Case of Corpoeal S . S , who is a 

lance corporal of the K. 0. Y. L. I., stated that he 
had been working for some time in a machine shop 
at a bench with two civilians. For some time the 
civilian workmen had displayed an antagonistic 
attitude towards him. On the day of his arrest a 
file with which he had been working accidentally 
caught in the sleeve of the man next to him, who 
thereupon made a violent attack upon him; that 



96 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

after having been attacked several times, he caught 
his hand to protect himself. The guard was 

called and he, S , stated to the guard that 

he refused to work longer in the shop on account 
of the antagonistic attitude of the civilian work- 
men and the occurrence stated above. He was 
thereupon taken to the place where he was lodged. 
Some two or three hours later, the guard appeared, 
ordered him to go to work again in the shop. He 
refused again on the grounds above stated, where- 
upon the guard struck him several times with the 
butt-end of his rifle and otherwise abused him. 
He was then placed under arrest and has since been 
tried. 

This matter was later taken up at the command- 
ant 's office with the commandant and a Rechtsan- 
walt (lawyer) attached to his staff. We asked the 
nature of the charge and the proceedings under 
which the man was punished. The commandant, 
after having looked up the record, stated that fol- 
lowing his return to the guard house, S was 

formally told that he would have to return to the 
place to work and that he replied in absolute re- 
fusal. 

The Rechtsanwalt then stated that such a heavy 
penalty of imprisonment had been imposed upon 

him (S ) at the court martial in view of the 

contemptuous and insolent manner in which he 
had made this refusal. 

The commandant in reference to S 's com- 
plaint of rough handling, stated that the guard 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 97 

had the right to strike a prisoner with his rifle in 
order to enforce obedience to a command, but that 
he paid particular attention that in the enforce- 
ment of authority the guards did not thereby in- 
jure the prisoners ; that with reference to this par- 
ticular instance, it was much better to force the 
prisoner to obey by striking him than that he / 
should have to suffer imprisonment for refusal. / 
The Rechtsanwalt then read to us the paragraph 
in the regulations under which the guard is em- 
powered to use force in the handling of a pris- 
oner. 

Case of Sekgeant S . Company Sergeant 

Major E. S stated that at the time of his ar- 
rest he was the noncommissioned officer in charge 
of the English barrack in one of the camps. That 
on March 4th, by request he had sent in a list of 
the fatigue men from whom selections for work 
were to be made. This list was prepared by him 
from his knowledge of the physical condition of 
the men, their ability to work etc. ; that previously 
this arrangement had worked out all right. On 
this particular occasion, the German noncom- 
missioned officer came to him and told him to 
order out certain men for work. Inasmuch as 
these men did not conform to the order of this 
list, a misunderstanding developed. He was ar- 
rested for refusing to order the men to work and 
tried by court martial. At the time of the trial 
he understood that at first he had been sentenced 
to three weeks in prison and was taken out of the 



98 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

court room. He was asked if he wanted to ap- 
peal and upon an affirmative reply, after about 
ten or fifteen minutes was taken back into the 
courtroom again and sentenced to three months. 
He then filed an appeal and on this trial was sen- 
tenced to three months' imprisonment. He com- 
plained that he did not understand the proceed- 
ings, that he did not understand why, the first 
verdict of three weeks had been changed suddenly 
to three months; that he was not represented by 
any one in his defense at either trial ; that he had 
had charge of the men for some time previous to 
the particular occurrence for which he was tried, 
had had no trouble or difficulty and attributed his 
present trouble to ill feeling towards him on the 
part of the German noncommissioned* officer. 

The matter was then taken up with the com- 
mandant and his legal adviser. We were told that 
the three weeks' penalty was provisional; that the 
penalty of three months was fixed at the first trial. 
When the prisoner appealed from this sentence, 
the commandant regarding the sentence as too 
light also appealed and a verdict of an increase 
from three or twelve months was handed down. 
The Rechtsanwalt stated that the regulations pro- 
vided for counsel for a prisoner only in unusual 
or grave cases. The prisoner is still under arrest 
pending an appeal of his case. 

Case of W. B., Peivates W , L , B , 

G , H , G . B stated that he had 

been under imprisonment since last fall and had 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 99 

first been tried October 4th, 1915. He said that 
he and the six other men had been working in a 
field. There had developed a misunderstanding 
as a result of their lack of ability to understand 
exactly what the guard wanted them to do in 
reference to some new work. Thereupon the 
guard had rushed upon him, threatening him with 
his bayonet ; that neither he nor any of the other 
men had offered any resistance but that he had 
stood perfectly still until the guard had quieted 
down. Notwithstanding this, he was arrested 
and tried with the other men on October 4th, 1915. 
At that trial B was given four years imprison- 
ment, three men eighteen months and the other 
men twelve months. All the men appealed and at 

the second trial, November 24th, 1915, B was 

sentenced to ten months, the others to three and 

two months, respectively. B alone appealed 

from this verdict. The other six men were satis- 
fied with the verdict and did not appeal. Upon 

this trial, B was sentenced to two years and 

the other men to twelve and fifteen months, re- 
spectively. 

Privates W , L , B , G , H , 

and Gr complained with much bitterness that 

inasmuch as they had already served their term 
of imprisonment according to the trial of Novem- 
ber 24th, 1915, and inasmuch as they had not ap- 
pealed from this verdict and inasmuch as they had 
already served the sentences imposed by this ver- 
dict and had been released, they could not under- 



100 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

stand why a new verdict of twelve and fifteen 
months respectively, should be reimposed upon 
them. They had at no time any aid or counsel to 
assist them or explain the nature of the proceed- 
ings of their present imprisonment imposed upon 
them by the court. 

When the commandant was asked as to the 
status of the cases of these men, he replied in 
reference to .the re-imprisonment of the penalty 
complained of by the men that while they had not 
appealed from the verdict of November 24th, 1915, 
he had appealed and the verdict imposed was the 
action of the court upon his appeal. In reference 
to their complaint as to counsel, he replied as in 
the other cases: "It was not customary to as- 
sign counsel for the prisoner in such cases. ' ' 

Not only the cases here sited but in cases from 
other prison camps it was perfectly evident that 
the whole procedure took the nature more of legal 
persecution than of prosecution. The presump- 
tion on the part of the prisoner of war to appeal 
his case from the superior judgement of his cap- 
tors could only be met on the appeal by increas- 
ing or doubling his sentence. When one takes 
into consideration that the officers of these court 
martials are German Officers, that the trial is held 
in a hostile atmosphere that the prisoner is not 
represented by counsel, that he has no one except 
himself to state his case for him and that even 
this statement of the case must be interpreted to 
the court by men not sympathetic to the prisoner 







< 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 101 

with a possibility that the interpretation may not 
express the facts or circumstances stated by the 
prisoner, it will not be at all surprising to learn 
that the prisoner felt that he had not been justly 
dealt with and viewing the cases here cited with 
other cases, one cannot escape the conclusion that 
he is justified in his position. Every effort was 
made to have the Embassy notified of the trial of 
men in which severe sentences were asked for. It 
was always impossible to have this request com- 
plied with and the only information the Embassy 
had, was obtained in an accidental way through 
camp inspectors or when the individual convicted 
was found later in one of the military prisons. In 

the case of Private F. A although a sentence 

of ten years imprisonment in jail was confirmed on 
an appeal, another appeal was taken by the pros- 
ecuting officer who insisted upon a death sentence 
in this case and yet notwithstanding this no word 
was sent to the Embassy and the case was only 
discovered by accident in the inspection of the 
camp at Kreis Celle. The report of this case sub- 
mitted to the Embassy led to the employment of 
counsel and the cessation of any further perni- 
cious activity. One can easily picture the plight 
of this young man, formerly a student at one of 
the Canadian Universities, confined for months in 
solitary confinement in a prison cell, without light, 
with little ventilation, and with the prospects of 
a capital sentence being passed upon him without 
aid or comfort from any one, who could speak his 



102 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

own language. One can easily imagine his relief 
when one fine day he finds in his cell some one 
speaking his own language, sympathetic to his 
case and to his position and carrying the assur- 
ance of counsel and interest to guard him in his 
approaching trial. It certainly was the plain 
duty of some one to have called the attention of 
the Embassy to the seriousness of this case in 
order that after two trials by their own court 
martial that the further prosecution which again 
only would mean persecution might cease. 

During the inspection of the camp for prisoners 
of war at Scheuen (Kreis Celle), in a complaint 

filed by Private F. A he stated that at the time 

of the disturbance for which he was imprisoned, 
another prisoner of war, Private L , 2nd, Bat- 
talion, K. 0. E., Lancashire Eegiment, was shot 
and killed by the guard. The statement made by 

T. M below indicates that previous trouble 

had existed at this camp, for which M was 

punished. 

Private F. A , 13th Battalion, Canadian 

Highlanders, stated that he wished to file a state- 
ment of his case and enlist the aid of the Embassy 
to prevent an eventual death-sentence being passed 
in his case. He stated that he, with twenty-five 
other prisoners of war, were at a working camp 
at Bokleh. They were violently treated and bull- 
dozed by the guards. This became so bad that 
they all demanded permission to see the command- 
ant at their parent camp at Celle. The German 



THE CAMP AT MINDEN 103 

Feldwebel (Sergeant) left them and returned 
shortly with a guard of several soldiers. These 
men appeared to be much excited and, without 
any order from their noncommissioned officer or 
any act on the part of the accused, they attacked 
the British with their bayonets. This happened 
the 26th of May, 1916. The case was tried on 
June 20th. On appeal a previous sentence of ten 
years was confirmed. The prosecuting attorney 
appealed this verdict in the case of A , accus- 
ing him of being a ringleader, and demanding a 
death-sentence in his case. The other twenty-five 
men have been returned to the working camp, 
where they now are, while an appeal in their case 
is being passed upon. 

Thomas M , 2nd Battalion, K. 0. E. Lanca- 
shire Regiment, stated that he was at work drain- 
ing a swamp at the same working camp (Bokleh) 
which has been mentioned above in the case of 
A ; that about May 12th, 1916, a fortnight pre- 
vious to the above occurrence, he was working with 
twenty-eight other men. He was told to push cars 
in a certain way, but did not understand as there 
was no proper interpreter present. The guards 
suddenly rushed not only at him but at the other 
prisoners of war, hitting them with the butts of 

their rifles. He saw A being attacked by a 

sentry at this time. As the guards approached 

him (M ) he raised his shovel above his head 

to protect himself. Three members of the guard 
" covered him" with their rifles, and he dropped, 



104 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

his shovel. He was taken to the camp, on July 
5th, at Hanover, where he was sentenced to ten 
years in jail. 

It would be interesting to find out from the court 
records in the case of M as to how much dis- 
turbance had previously existed in this working 
camp, the reasons for it, and what measures were 

taken to correct it. A is afraid that a death 

sentence will be passed on him and requests the 
aid of the Embassy. 



CHAPTER VIII 

WITTENBERG AND OTHER PLAGUE CAMPS 

I HESITATE to discuss the camp at Witten- 
berg for the simple reason that the informa- 
tion on internal conditions during the period of 
plague has been obtained largely from the pris- 
oners themselves, but notwithstanding this I think 
it quite impossible that the British medical of- 
ficers who in the path of duty in this camp faced 
death, would for a moment, misstate the truth for 
purposes of political capital in their report. I 
may state that I have talked with prisoners still 
in the camp at Wittenberg who knew nothing of 
this official report and yet who corroborated in 
detail the statements made therein. In addition 
to this we have the reports and I have had the 
opportunity of personal communications from 
Mr. Osburne, who inspected the camp in October, 
j 1915 ; Mr. Gerard, who inspected the camp in 
"1 November, 1915, and in the personal and official 
reports of Dr. Ohnesorg, who visited typhus 
camps during the epidemics. Neither the am- 
bassador nor the attaches of the Embassy were 
permitted to enter any of these camps during the 
epidemic. Dr. Ohnesorg, however, talked with 

105 



106 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY , 

some of the British medical officers through the 
barbed-wire barriers. I, therefore, feel justified 
in this discussion in quoting from these reports 
with the feeling that the above corroboration en- 
titles them to full credence and serious considera- 
tion. In the report of Dr. Ohnesorg, of the camp 
at Gardelegen, he states: "Here as in most in- 
stances when typhus appeared, the guard and mili- 
tary authorities precipitously vacated the camp 
and left the administration in the hands of the 
prisoners of war. Sanitary conditions leading up 
to this epidemic had been indescribably bad. The 
interned had been needlessly crowded in the bar- 
racks, they were not sufficiently clothed, there had 
been inadequate facilities for bathing and lack of 
medicine, dressings and suitable food for the sick 
together with improper hospital accommodations 
paralleled the conditions at Wittenberg and no ex- 
cuse can be offered for the callousness and cow- 
ardice exhibited by the authorities in these 
crises." 

Typhus existed in a large percentage in several 
camps. The number of cases varied. In the 
camp at Cassel, which at that time contained 
eighteen thousand prisoners, were seven thousand 
cases, with a mortality of eleven percent. At 
Cottbas seventeen hundred and sixty five cases 
occurred with two hundred deaths. It will 
therefore be seen typhus is a highly contagious 
disease with only a relatively small mortality. 
The organism causing the disease is not known. 



PLAGUE CAMPS 107 

It is generally admitted, however, that the body- 
louse transmits the disease from one person to 
another. During the course of the disease high 
fever and delirium are the rule, and during con- 
valescence marked body weakness, gangrene of 
the extremities, nervous and mental states are the 
complications. 

In a consideration of the problem of Witten- 
berg it should be remembered that the German 
Government had repeatedly refused requests to /" 
place the different nationalities in separate camps 
by themselves and typhus has long existed as an 
epidemic disease in Eussia. It is not considered, 
therefore, amongst them as any more serious than 
is typhoid with us. It occurs indeed in such mild 
form that the Russian doctors often overlooked 
it and did not recognize it as typhus. 

It is admitted that the camp at Wittenberg was 
not only overcrowded but that supplies were so 
short that two and even three prisoners of war / 
were sleeping on the same mattress; that the ^ 
camp was dirty and vermin infested almost to a 
degree unbelievable ; that the attitude of the Ger- 
man officers was hard and unsympathetic that 
even after the epidemic had passed over, when 
Mr. Osburne made his visit the prisoners were 
cowed by fear of punishment if they talked freely 
with the inspector. The use of police dogs recall 
the general attitude and atmosphere already de- 
scribed at Minden. It is not surprising, there- 
fore, that when the epidemic broke out, to quote 



108 THE PRISONER OF !WAR IN GERMANY 

again the words of Dr. Ohnesorg: "The officers 
of this camp should exhibit callousness and cow- 
ardice. ' ' 

The barracks originally built for one hundred 
and twenty men were overcrowded to the extent 
that one hundred and eighty to two hundred pris- 
oners were in a single barrack. In all some fif- 
teen thousand prisoners were housed in this camp 
of approximately ten acres in extent. The camp 
was surrounded by the usual row of double barbed- 
wire. This camp consisted of a mixed popula- 
tion of French, Belgians, Eussians, and British; 
I as in the other camps the Eussians predominated 
over the other nationalities. The winter of 1914, 
1915, the year of the epidemic, was extremely cold. 
The British prisoners were not supplied with 
overcoats, with the natural result of crowding of 
the barracks, not only at night, but during the 
day. Added to this there was an insufficiency of 
underclothing, shoes and socks. Sanitary ar- 
rangements were insufficient, both for laundry and 
washing purposes. The presence of lice on the 
bodies and clothes of the men admitted from the 
front at the time of the outbreak of the epidemic 
became a serious matter. A statement was made 
by the British physicians that two or even three 
soldiers were forced to use the same mattress; 
the effect of this close contact upon the spread of 
the disease was most important. The epidemic 
of typhus broke out in this camp in the summer >/ 
of 1914 and continued until July of the following 



PLAGUE CAMPS 109 

year. During this period of time there were as 
many as one hundred cases of typhus in the camp 
at one time. 

The arrival of the British medical officers at 
the camp came about in the following way. From 
the month of November, 1914, thirteen English 
doctors had been detained at Halle. They were 
none of them required for attendance upon their 
own men, and it is difficult to understand how, 
consistently with the Geneva Convention, their 
continued detention was justified. Indeed in di- 
rect defiance of the provisions of that Conven- 
tion, these doctors were treated as ordinary pris- 
oners of war, and the Committee cannot resist the 
suspicion that they were deliberately detained by 
the German authorities so that they might be 
made available, if need be, for work of danger in 
relief of their own staff. Be that as it may, after 
three months' wrongful detention these doctors 
were, on the 10th of February, 1915, informed 
that they were to be distributed amongst the other 
German camps, and particularly the six were re- 
quired for the camp at Wittenberg. By arrange- 
ment amongst themselves the six sent there were 
Major F , Major P , Captain S , Cap- 
tain V and Captain, then Lieutenant L . 

No reason was given for the order that they should 
go to "Wittenberg, and it was from the guard on 
the train that they first heard of typhus there. 
The further report of conditions in the camp are 
Major P , Captain V , and Captain L -. 



110 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

The conditions in the camp during the epidemic 
are almost unbelievable. 

On arrival at Wittenberg they were marched to 
the camp. They visited the different compounds. 
They were received in apathetic silence. The 
rooms were unlighted; the men were aimlessly 
marching up and down; some were lying on the 
floor, probably sickening for typhus. When they 

got into the open air again Major P broke 

down. The horror of it all was for the moment 
more than he could bear. Later in the evening 

Major P and Captain V were directed to 

go to two temporary hospitals outside the camp, 
Major P to the Kronprinz Hospital, and Cap- 
tain V to the Elbarfin Hospital. There were 

no infectious diseases at either hospital, and the 
general conditions at each were satisfactory. 
These officers were kept there until the 7th of 
March, 1915. 

Of the four officers left on the 11th of February 

at the camp itself, Captain L alone survives, 

and the conditions as he describes them during 
the period between the 11th of February and the 
7th of March are full of horror. 

Captain L found for instance, that while in 

the bungalows there was normally one mattress to 
three men, in the improvised hospital there were 
no mattresses at all. This, of course, was known 
throughout the camp, and in consequence there 
were many typhus patients scattered over the com- 
pounds who were determined not to come into the 



PLAGUE CAMPS 111 

hospital if they could help it. In one compound 

alone Captain L discovered fifty hidden cases 

of typhus. Further, when a patient was brought 
from the compound to the hospital, either the 
mattress on which he had lain was brought with 
him or it was left behind in his bungalow. If it 
was brought with him his former companions were 
left without anything to sleep on ; if it was left be- 
hind his companions were still left to sleep upon 
the infected mattress, and it was almost inevitable 
that they should catch the disease. Again, in the 
absence of stretchers, all the typhus cases had to 
be carried down to the hospital on the tables on 
which the men ate their food, and there was no J 
possibility of washing these tables because, as 
above stated there was practically no soap in the 
camp. Moreover, the German authorities at first 
refused to allow the whole compound No. 8 to be 
used for typhus patients. They required that 
these should be confined with other sufferers, a 
regulation for which it seems impossible to sug- 
gest any justification. The result simply was to 
spread the infection to those already afflicted in 
some other way. 

During the first month the food ration for each 
patient was half a " petit pain" and half a cup of 
milk each per day. The only soup to be had was 
from the camp kitchen, and that came up in a 
wooden tub without a cover, and it arrived at the 
hospital full of dust and dirt. It was a hopeless 
diet for patients in a fever. In truth the ration 



112 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

was not a ration at all, it was a pretence. It was 
not even possible to give the patients warm water 
with their milk. 

The camp conditions were too much for each of 
the four medical officers who were left there ; two 

of them, Major F and Captain S , very 

soon sickened, and they died of typhus about a 
month after their arrival. Captain F was at- 
tacked later by the disease and also died. There 
is no doubt in the minds of the committee that the 
condition to which the camp authorities had re- 
duced the camp and the prisoners they had aban- 
doned was directly responsible for the death of 

these devoted men. Lieutenant L was finally 

stricken with the disease on the 7th of March, 
after having for three days with a temperature 
due to typhus stuck to his work, there being 
no one then to take his place. He alone of the of- 
ficers attacked finally recovered. When con- 
valescent he bravely resumed his duty. 

On the 7th of March Major P and Captain 

V were directed to return to the main camp. 

There they were met by Captain F ; Major 

F and Captain S were then dying. Lieu- 
tenant L , as above explained, was in the early 

stages of typhus. 

The British sick were lying scattered amongst 
the French and Russians, both in the compound 
No. 8 and in the other compounds of the camp. 
Being sometimes dressed in French, Belgian, or 
Eussian uniforms, they were difficult to recognise. 



PLAGUE CAMPS 113 

They were lying in their clothes on the floor, or 
on the straw mattresses above described. In the 
beginning there were no beds in the compound 
No. 8; there were not even, as has been shown, 

mattresses for all. Major P saw delirious 

men waving arms brown to the elbow with faecal 
matter. The patients were alive with vermin; in 
the half light he attempted to brush what he took 
to be an accumulation of dust from the folds of a 
patient's clothes, and he discovered it to be a 
moving mass of lice. In one room in compound 
No. 8 the patients lay so close to one another on 
the floor that he had to stand straddle-legged 
across them to examine them. 

Captain V 's description is even more ap- 
palling. It was impossible, he says, to obtain bed- 
pans for the British patients, and consequently 
in cases of delirium, and even in less serious cases, 
the state of the mattress was indescribable. 

The difficulty in obtaining sufficient drugs and 
dressing was for a long time extreme. Camphor- 
ated oil, Captain L says, could never at 

"Wittenberg, contrary to his experience in other 
German Camps, be secured in adequate quantity, 
yet this was practically the only stimulant avail- 
able. Day after day a list of medical requisites 
would be sent out, and only a third of the things 
requested would be supplied. Bed sores were 
common. In several cases toes and whole feet 
became gangrenous, and sufficient bandages were 
not available to dress them. One of the patients 



J 



114 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

now returned to this country, Private L of the 

1st Battalion Boyal Scots of Fusiliers, in May had 
to have one leg amputated below the knee, and in 
July the other leg amputated at the same place, in 
both cases owing to gangrene. Had dressings at 
the proper time been available both feet would in 
all probability have been saved. And his case 
does not stand alone. The officers are quite sat- 
isfied that the post typhus gangrene, which was so 
common, was largely due to the fact that for so 
many patients there were neither socks nor any- 
thing else to keep their feet warm. 

In the earlier stages of the epidemic there was 
practically no hospital clothing available for the 
British prisoners. There was only a small sul- 
phur chamber for disinfecting purposes. When a 
patient's outer clothing was taken off to be sent 
to the disinfector he had to be left in his shirt, as 
no other clothing or shirts were supplied. Each 
patient brought his blankets from the camp with 
him, and as no covering could be provided for him 
while disinfection was taking place it was impossi- 
ble adequately to disinfect his clothing unless he 
was to be left naked. 

As regards the washing of patients in the hos- 
pital, this was entirely out of the question. Un- 
til a supply of soap was obtained, by Captain 

V 's efforts, from England at a later date there 

was no soap forthcoming. The only supply was 
a small quantity secured from the officer's canteen, 
and that was kept for the very worst cases. 



PLAGUE CAMPS 115 

It was to Major P 's great powers of organi- 
zation, the devoted labors and strong personality 

of Captain V and, after his recovery, the 

splendid work of Captain L , that gradual im- 
provement in the conditions was due. An obser- 
vation ward was instituted in compound No. 8 and 

placed in charge of Captain L . Major P 

took over the treatment of typhus in the hospital, 

and Captain V , in addition to other duties was' 

placed in charge of the surgical ward. Major 

P at length obtained permission to collect, and 

he did collect, all the British typhus patients in 
one bungalow of that compound. He secured for 
his patients what bedding, hospital clothing, 
urinals, etc., he could, as these filtered daily from 
the hands of the Germans outside into the store- 
room. He arranged that the milk and the soup 
should be left in special vessels before the bunga- 
low ; he obtained for each patient about three cup- 
fulls of milk per day, and for the convalescents a 
thin soup and some white rolls. Clothing, beds, 
and bedding, were gradually collected, so that the 
patients could at least be put into clean clothes, 
and their own were disinfected in a movable steam 
disinfector that after a time was working. As the 
cases decreased in number the appalling over- 
crowding of the hospital in the beginning at 
length disappeared. 

After the middle of April, however, beds and 
clothing were, as above appears, gradually ob- \ 
tained for the hospital, and as the weather became 



116 THE PRISONER OE ;WAR IN GERMANY 

warmer the cases rapidly decreased in number. 
[With the decrease in the patients the supplies be- 
came adequate, so that now every patient in Wit- 
tenberg hospital, whatever his ailment, has a 
bed and proper hospital clothing. 

"When one pictures this camp with its fifteen 
thousand prisoners with the conditions above de- 
scribed, with an atmosphere even worse than that 
of the average prison camp, and there suddenly 
appears an epidemic of one of the most fatal dis- 
eases known to medical science, it is easy to im- 
agine the helpless horror that overtook these men, 
helpless to fight the unseen invader, and confined 
between barbed-wire and thrusting bayonets, un- 
able to flee before it. It was from this plague- 
stricken camp with its helpless and hopeless con- 
tent of human beings, caught like so many rats in 
a wired trap, that the entire German staff and 
guard to a man responsible for their lives, re- 
sponsible indeed for their own honor and their 
safe keeping, deserted this camp and left the / 
inmates to their fate. Not a single German was 
left within the camp enclosure. The officers and 
the guard stood without the wire entanglements, 
and all communications held between the doctors 
who took charge of the camp and the camp au- 
thorities took place through this enclosure. A 
trolley shute about twenty yards long worked by 
winches at either end was used for the supply of 
food for the hospital and medical officers. Until r 
the epidemic was over in August, 1915, not a Ger- - 



PLAGUE CAMPS 117 

man medical officer appeared in the camp with the 

exception of one visit by Dr. A some two 

months after the outbreak of the epidemic. An- 
other German later in the epidemic visited the hos- 
pital for bacteriological specimens for research 
work. It is useless to comment on such a condi- 
tion of affairs as obtained at Wittenberg. One can 
well imagine the fear of such an epidemic upon the 
layman. The physician, however, is trained to 
look upon contact with epidemic diseases as a 
part of his day's work. Wittenberg and some of 
the other German typhus camps will remain as a 
blot upon the escutcheon of the German medical 
profession. Whether justly or not it would be 
well to call attention to the military side of the 
profession as contrasted with the profession as a 
whole. I believe that if the military authorities 
had called for volunteers to manage the medical 
side of these camps that it would have found more 
than a sufficient number of simple, plain German 
'doctors to face the danger and assume the risk 
and responsibility. Yet in the absence of this, 
German science and German medicine will bear 
the responsibility and the odium attached to the 
act of men who, when human life was placed in 
their hands, failed to live up to their plain duty. 
When one looks for a justification it is hard to find. 
At the time the epidemic broke out there was a 
sufficiency of all supplies, including food, to meet 
such a crisis. On March 16th, 1916, the following 
statement and explanation of Wittenberg was 



118 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

given to a member of the United States Embassy- 
Staff, by the Inspector General of the prisoners 
of war camps of the 4th Army Corps: 

"The General spoke at length of the epidemic 
of spotted fever (Fleck-Typhus) which had 
broken out in several of the soldier prison camps 
last year. He said that the disease had been prac- 
tically unknown in Germany before the introduc- 
tion by the Eussian prisoners, that the symptoms 
were not recognized, and that the German doctors 
had not known at first how to treat the cases which 
appeared. He showed me a chart showing the 
course of the disease at Wittenberg, where it ap- 
peared on the 15th of January, 1915, and was 
eradicated on the 23rd of July. In all there had 
been 1,975 cases and 185 deaths. The mortality 
had been least among the Ehissians, and greatest 
among the Belgians and French proportionally. 
Among the German guards there had been 8 cases 
and 2 deaths, and among the British 125 cases and 
39 deaths, while 79 Kussians, 64 French and 1 Bel- 
gian had also died. The General said that the 
isolation of the camp and the order forbidding 
the German guards to enter it, had been absolutely 
necessary to prevent a spread of the disease to the 
city of "Wittenberg, where most of the guards had 
their homes and that, as a result of these precau- 
tions, there had not been a single case among the 
civilian population." 

It is evident, therefore, that the 4th Army Corps 
Command finds source for gratification in confin- 



PLAGUE CAMPS 119 

ing this epidemic to these camps. It does not ex- 
plain the act of the medical profession nor does 
it explain the treatment of the guards who con- 
tracted the disease at the beginning of the epi- 
demic and the prevention of the spread of the dis- 
ease from these men to the city of Wittenberg. 
If German physicians could be ordered to treat 
these men why could not one at least be permitted, 
if not ordered into the camp to live with the im- 
possible conditions and thereby see the necessity 
of aid to so many dying men. 

If Wittenberg were an isolated instance I 
might consider it the action of one man with a 
misguided idea of his duty to a local community 
binding him to higher duty to helpless men con- 
fined behind barbed-wire in impossible surround- 
ings ; but we have already read the statements of 
the officials of the 4th Army Corps, and the report 
of Dr. Ohnesorg at Gardelegen and other camps. 

The same attitude was met in a general way in 
reference to the prevalence of tuberculosis in Lim- 
berg. The attitude of the foreign office and the 
army corps headquarters at Frankfort was re- 
peatedly directed to the existence of the excep- 
tionally large number of lung cases in the over- 
crowded barracks of the Irish prisoners of war at 
Limburg. Not only was no attention paid to it but 
officers from the army headquarters disputed the 
existence of tuberculosis there when the statement 
of the men ill in the barracks and their appear- 
ance would have made the diagnosis easy even for 



120 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

a layman, and when both in the Eevier-Stuben 
and in the hospital the diagnosis boards at the 
head of the bed was open evidence to the con- 
trary. 

When the Swiss commission for the internment 
of sick and wounded prisoners in Switzerland 
visited this camp the attention was again called by 
them to the disproportionately high percentage of 
lung cases in this camp. Confident of the ability 
and with faith in the German medical profession 
I offered to have a decision of this question and 
the necessity for a detailed survey of all the pris- 
oners in the overcrowded barracks in order to 
prevent the spread of this disease, left to a com- 
mission of three German specialists whom I would 
name. Notwithstanding this nothing was done. 
Here again, as in Wittenberg, it was perfectly evi- 
dent that lack of consideration of the Irish pris- 
oner was intentional and a reprisal for his failure 
to cooperate in the formation of the Irish Bri- 
gade. 



CHAPTER IX 

POLITICAL CAMPS 

THE camp at Limburg just mentioned and the 
camp at Zossen (Wunsdorf ) are both exam- 
ples of political or, more specifically, seduction 
camps. In both camps exceptional treatment was 
extended to the prisoner of war not from any hu- 
mane principle, nor with the idea of doing good for 
the sake of doing good but more specifically with 
the intent by means of favorable treatment and 
propaganda to induce the prisoner of war to aban- 
don the country for whose service he enlisted and ^ 
to fight for Germany or with her allies. During^ 
the first eighteen months of the war both Irish V— 
prisoners and Irish officers were segregated in 
camps apart from the other British officers and 
prisoners. The enlisted men were finally placed 
in the camp at Limburg. 1 

1 1 also wish to state that , who arrived at Crefeld about 

December, told me that all the Irishmen at his camp (I think, 

but am not sure, that it was ) were collected together shortly 

before he left, and were harangued by the commandant, who 
stated that the Emperor was aware of the down-trodden state 
of Ireland, and now wished that the Irishmen should be placed 
in a separate camp, where they would be better fed and treated 
differently from the Englishmen. He further stated that sub- 
sequently they went in a body to the commandant, and said they 
did not wish to have any different treatment from their com- 
patriots. 

121 



122 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

This camp is one of the best constructed camps 
in Germany and with beautiful situation in the J 
suburbs of the picturesque town of Limburg. 
Here to prepare the prisoner for the coming of 
Casement he was given exceptional care and treat- 
ment and fuller liberty than in the average camp. 
To this camp was sent Sir E ! oger Casement to give 
a series of lectures on historical (?) subjects. 
The lectures were poorly attended and as soon as 
the real purpose of the lectures was disclosed se- 
rious trouble developed in the camp whenever 
Casement appeared. At first he was given full 
liberty to circulate in the camp as he pleased. La- 
ter a guard was sent with him in order to protect 
him from the indignant Irish who resented both 
his presence and his mission. This resentment 
was indeed so deep-seated that months after the 
episode had passed the mere mention of this gen- 
tleman's name was sufficient to stir up the fighting 
blood of these men. They could see nothing hu- 
morous in the whole affair and any attempt to joke 
about the matter was resented. After this long 
period of preparation with every inducement held 
out to these men, of freedom of the prison camps, 
a regiment of their own with green uniforms and 
a harp embroidered on the coat, only thirty-two 
men out of the four thousand prisoners was the 
pitiful haul to form the famous regiment and new 
ally to the Central Powers. One can well imagine 
the deep injury to the sense of loyalty of these 
men when with their keen sense of humor, they 




u 



H 



POLITICAL CAMPS 123 

could see nothing particularly funny in these 
thirty-two men marching out of the camp in their 
green uniforms. They even would not admit that 
the thirty- two were Irish. ' ' Scotch Irish or rene- 
gade Irish from America," they said, in excuse for 
these hated few who failed to live up to their 
plighted trust. 

Almost immediately after the failure to seduce 
these men from their loyalty to Great Britain, a 
change of attitude was manifested. Both in the 
camp and in the working camps to which they were 
sent rigid discipline and limitation of liberty were 
enforced. Those in the camp who were foremost 
in their antagonism to this manifestation of Ger- 
man diplomacy were transferred from the main 
camp to others and to working camps, where they 
were forced to live on the camp foods and their 
packages and letters were not forwarded to them 
by the German noncommissioned officer placed in 
charge of these departments of the camp. Diffi- 
culties were placed in their way in the use of the 
camp library. Here, as at Schiedenmuhl, Lang- , 
ensalza, etc., a large number of prisoners were 
found in the punishment barracks; bitter com- 
plaints were registered that men too ill to be about 
were ordered out of bed by the German guard not- i 
withstanding the orders of the medical officer. —^ 

The Eoman Catholic priest, a man of their own 
race assigned to this camp by special agreement 
with the Vatican, as a result of his refusal to coun- 
tenance Casement and the German propaganda, 



J 



124 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

was interfered with in his religious functions and 
eventually ordered out of Germany. His heart 
was in this work and he well knew what was in 
store for these helpless men and how much they 
would need his help. Eventually the German 
Government was forced by the Vatican to recon- 
sider their action and while he was permitted to 
remain, his actions were curtailed and he was not 
permitted to visit other camps or working camps 
to which the Irish were sent. Father Crotty 
stands out, with such men as Mr. Harte of the Y. 
M. C. A., Mr. Hoover in Belgium, and the Eev. Mr. 
Williams, as great potential factors for good in 
the present conflict. 1 

In the working camps to which these men were 
sent the same story of reprisal attitude was told. 
On the first visit of inspection to the Limburg 
camp after the Casement fiasco the commandant 

i Prof. Delmer is the authority for the following : 
"Among the Irish prisoners at the camp at Limburg the Ger- 
mans tried even to use the priest as their tool. After Koger Case- 
ment had exhausted his arts trying to persuade the men to desert 
the flag, Father Crotty, whom I look upon as one of the heroes of 
the war, was asked by his German mentors if he would speak a 
word of authority to the waverers at mass. 

" 'Men of Galway, Clare and Connaught,' " he said, " 'the Ger- 
man Emperor wants you to fight on his side. Some people have 
been telling you it is the proper thing for you to do. I have been 
asked to tell you the same, but I was sent to you by his Holiness 
the Pope, not to talk politics to you, not to mislead you, nor 
to be a procurer for any king or kaiser on earth, but to tell you 
in the name of God and the holy church what is good and right 
for men to do. As a priest of God I tell you it is your duty as 
good Catholics to keep the oaths you have taken, to be loyal to 
your King, and that I have to say to you this day. May the 
grace of God rest on you and help you.' " 



POLITICAL CAMPS 125 

reported in a very casual way that one of the Irish 
prisoners had been shot by the guard. Circum- 
stances as detailed by him were so inconsistent 
with the report that filtered into the camp from 
the working camp that an investigation was imme- 
diately ordered. So much obstruction was placed 
in the way of this investigation that the ambassa- 
dor immediately took charge himself notwithstand- 
ing the fact that the commandant at the camp at 
Limburg stated that a military inquiry had exoner- 
ated the guard. Just as soon as they realized the 
matter was to be fully investigated they ordered a 
court martial and then stood firmly against any in- 
vestigation on the grounds that until the court 
martial was completed neither the American Am- 
bassador or any one else would be permitted to 
talk to any of the Irish prisoners who were present 
at the time. It was quite evident that were it not 
for the investigation of the American Embassy the 
court martial would not have been ordered ; and it 
was only then started as a block to any further 
procedure on the part of the American Embassy. 
In similar cases at Scheidenmuhl, Soltau, etc., the 
right to interview the prisoners and others was not 
questioned. The assumption in this case was to 
the effect that the military authorities at Limburg 
and the army corps command at Frankfort had 
something to hide in this case and took this method 
of concealing it. The report of this investigation 
was never known to the Embassy notwithstanding 
the promise of immediate action. This case had 



J 



126 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

not been reported to the Embassy and was discov- 
ered in the routine camp inspection. Notwith- 
standing the protest at the time and the demand 
that such cases should be immediately reported, 
within a very short time a second case occurred in 
which the prisoner was killed by the guard and 
this case was likewise not reported to the Em- 
bassy, but was accidently discovered. The notice 
sent to the family of the dead man stated simply 
that he had died and was buried at Limburg. The 
military authorities in their discussion of this case 
were quite proud of the fact they had given the 
man a military funeral but later confessed that the 
guard who killed him was a prominent member of 
the military escort who assisted at the interment. 
The commandant stated that on May 28th, a 
group of prisoners working on an Arbeitskomman- 
do at Langenseifexe, some little distance from 
Limburg, were taken by their guard to an inn and 

permitted to drink. Among the men was P. M 

of the Second Connaught Eangers. The men after 
a time spent in drinking in the inn were taken by 
the guard to the dwellings where they were quar- 
tered in the village. When in his quarters, M ■ 

suddenly became excited and violent, jumped 
about the room, screaming and crying out that he 
must have more to drink, and pounded upon the 
walls. The noise attracted the attention of civil- 
ians, among them the burgomeister, who attempted 

to quiet the man. M then seized a piece of iron 

and made an attack upon the burgomeister, who 



POLITICAL CAMPS 127 

escaped him. He then turned upon the guard and 
threw the iron at him, which the guard dodged, 
and this was repeated. Again he attacked the 
guard in the same manner, whereupon the guard 
shot him, the man dying in a few minutes. The 
commandant stated that the guard was given a 
hearing before a board, and his act pronounced 
justified in self-defence. . The commandant stated 
that M was regarded as having become sud- 
denly mad or was intoxicated. The guard had 
stated that he had permitted the men to drink no 
more than men are commonly supposed to be able 
to drink without intoxication ; and in view of this, 
the commandant stated that if the man was to be 
regarded as having been drunk, he must have been 
abnormally sensitive to the action of alcohol. He 
stated that the man had given no trouble previ- 
ously, was not known to be inclined to drink, and 
was not known to have given any signs of being 
queer or unbalanced. The commandant stated 
that the guard had violated his instructions and 
regulations in permitting the prisoners to drink 
and drinking with them as he had done. He 

stated that the body of M was given a military 

funeral at the place where his death occurred ; and 
that the death had been reported to the army corps 
to which the camp was attached. 

During our inspection the senior noncommis- 
sioned officer of the camp, Sergeant J. D of the 

Eoyal Connaught Eangers reported to us the 
death of P. M and stated that application had 



128 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

been made to the camp authorities to have some of 
his regimental noncommissioned officers and com- 
rades attend the funeral. This was refused. 

Then they requested that the body of M be 

buried with other members of his regiment who 
had died and had been buried in Limburg. This 
request was likewise refused. None of the men 
who were present at the working camp at the time 
of the shooting were in the camp at Limburg at the 
time of our visit. 

The same seduction by the same means but with 
much more disastrous results from the G-erman 
standpoint was tried with the Irish officers. As 
far as I know, with a possible single exception, not 
one of these officers was disloyal to his word. 
They again paid the penalty in various ways but 
not to the same degree as did the enlisted men, for 
their resentment to such approaches. 

In contradiction to the commandant's report, 
statements obtained from witnesses at the time, 
gave an entirely different version of this affair. 
It was stated that the shooting of the prisoner was 
entirely unjustified. He admitted that he had 
been drinking and was boisterous and had not 
obeyed immediately the order of the guard to turn 
in, who therefore shot him. It seems highly im- 
probable that the four or five Germans present 
including the guard could not easily have subdued 
a man who was drunk and violent and who had 
no more deadly weapon than a tin wash basin. 
According to the witnesses present the piece of 



POLITICAL CAMPS 129 

iron mentioned in the commandant's statement 
was the innocent wash-basin, referred to. In the 
interest of this case the Central Government in 
Berlin made efforts to prevent the visit of Mr. 
Gerard and myself to Limburg and when they 
realized that the case was going to be investigated 
whether they liked it or not, sent a member of the 
Foreign Office on the train with ns to protest and 
reason with us and when we arrived at Limburg we 
found the staff officer from the army corps head- 
quarters at Frankfort, sent there with the avowed 
purpose of preventing any investigation either 
there or at the working camp. While nothing 
further was done we obtained sufficient direct in- 
formation not only in this case, but in the case 
which immediately followed it, to give us a fairly 
complete case upon which to make a vigorous pro- 
test concerning the attitude of the German author- 
ities to the Irish prisoners. 

While such a course of action did not seem to 
give definite tangible results from a legal stand- 
point it had a very natural effect of serving notice 
on the German authorities that the United States 
Embassy would not only be satisfied with making 
a single report of such occurrences but insisted 
upon keeping up a running fight for the correction 
of such conditions ; which while it might not lead 
to any change of heart will at least keep the guards 
from such reckless action as to lead to the death 
of any more prisoners. While we might consider 
from a purely abstract standpoint that such deaths 



130 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

were justified, when all the circumstances of re- 
pression and inhuman treatment which followed 
the Casement failure, we are face to face again 
with Minden, Wittenberg, Schiedenmuhl, etc. 

The Irish brigade in its resplendent uniforms, 
drunk with liberty, aided and abetted by other 
ethereals, did not present in this condition' that 
martial appearance which their Teutonic allies 
had proudly pictured to themselves. After a fit- 
ful and hectic moment in Berlin they underwent a 
J sudden disappearance. Their whereabouts are 
unknown. Limburg was no safe place for them. 
Upon the demand of the American Ambassador 
the German officials replied that they had a perfect 
right to liberate prisoners of war if they so chose ; 
the reply to this was, that while this might be 
true taking into consideration the treatment of 
the other Irish prisoners this Government had a 
right to demand that they be presented for inspec- 
tion at any time. This principle was finally ad- 
mitted and the disloyal thirty two were found in- 
carcerated in a camp near Berlin and the max- 
imum "that virtue has its own reward" was here 
exemplified. 

ZOSSEET — WUNSDORF 

We turn to a more pleasant and agreeable pic- 
ture in consideration of this camp. While the 
Mohammedan and Hindu was occasionally found 
' in other camps they were eventually all concen- 
trated at the camp at Wunsdorf. JIhis was in 



POLITICAL CAMPS 131 

many respects the model camp of Germany. Here 
the Oriental was given exceptional and favorable 
treatment. 

Thirty-four hundred prisoners of war were con- 
fined in this camp. Of the five hundred and sixty . 
one British three hundred were Ghurkas, one hun- 
dred were Sikhs, one hundred and six Moham- 
medans, sixty three Shakurs. In addition to this 
the rest of the prisoners of war were confined with 
Mohammedans and Orientals from the French 
Army. Not only were the barracks well con- 
structed, roomy and clean, but special facilities 
were offered for housing the different racial and 
religious groups together. Individual kitchens 
for these different groups were provided with 
every facility for the preparation of food accord- 
ing to their religious rites and tastes. The bath- 
ing arrangements were exceptional. The bath- 
houses, disinfecting plant, wash-houses, drying 
building, etc., were in excellent condition. A spe- 
cial and very ornate mosque was erected for relig- 
ious services and as an adjunct to this a special 
bathing establishment finely constructed, lined 
with white tiles provided with constantly running 
water with specially arranged places for the wash- 
ing of the feet, preparatory to entering the 
mosque. The officers assigned to the camp were 
men who had seen service in India and the East, 
who spoke and understood the language of their 
prison groups and whose attitude of sympathy and 
understanding was very touching for a German 



132 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

prison camp. The German officers were very affa- 
ble and deplored the fact that we had not brought 
our cameras with us to take some pictures of this, 
a very picturesque spot. It was indeed a con- 
centrated living picture of the East with all the 
light, the color and the mystery of the Orient. "We 
assumed, however, in our visit to this place that a 
camera would, as in other German prison camps, 
be as welcome as a rattle snake, or a Colorado 
beetle in a German potato patch, and to ask per- 
mission to use one would accentuate the statement 
made in the public press that the attaches of the 
Embassy were spies in the service of the British 
Government, an attitude of mind which was 
equally manifest in the inspection of some of the 
camps'. 

We left this camp with the general impression 
that this was indeed an ideal camp where the men 
were treated in a humane and kindly way, and 
where their tastes in food were considered and a 
camp in which the German Government supplied a 
full sufficiency of food, not only of meat and pota- 
toes, but such rare things in Germany as rice and 
wheat flour. This exceptionally good opinion of 
this camp, however, was marred by the informa- 
tion which came to us later that the impression 
which was conveyed to us was not altogether cor- 
rect and that much of this food material was sent 
directly from England through the Y. M. C. A. and 
other channels; and that further by the wide- 
spread rumor in diplomatic circles which neces- 



POLITICAL CAMPS 133 

sarily lacked official confirmation that by such 
means and show of kindness some two thousand 
of these men were weaned away from the Allies 
and sent to Turkey to fight against those to whom 
they had previously given their allegiance. Such 
are political camps ; the one a success, the other a 
failure; the one an Oriental Paradise in prosaic 
Germany, the other a camp of repression and re- 
prisal, and a disappointment. 

As part of the crusade for the conversion of 
Mohammedan prisoners, members of the Turkish 
Government visited this camp at various times. /"" 
The following is a translation of the speech deliv- 
ered by Mustafa Eedin Bey, Turkish member of 
Parliament and President of the Society for Na- 
tional Defense: — 

"We are very happy to have been invited here 
by the Imperial German Government. We bring 
to you the greetings of our Eulers and our Sultan, 
who are your brothers of the same Faith. For a 
soldier it is a great misfortune to be taken pris- 
oner. You, however, have not the justification 
that you have fought for your faith and your race. 
You have been drawn into this struggle by force. 
Thanks, however, to the extraordinary goodness of 
the High German Government, they have taken 
cognizance of your religion, your customs and 
manners, yes, even more, namely that which has 
been lacking in your home, learning to read and 
write, is here extended to you. They have called 
here special teachers to give you special instruc- 



134 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

tion in your religion and speech. We hope that 
you will prove thankful for this and what you have 
here learnt you will spread in your homes amongst 
your brothers. Bear in mind always that you are 
children of the Turkish people, a people of nearly 
7,000,000 souls, a race that inhabits a region from 
the Balkans to Mongolia. When you consider 
this, may the time hasten and the day come when 
we, I hope, will all be united and nationalized in 
a single race. In conclusion I invite you in thank- 
fulness in gratitude to remember in your prayers 
and to praise our exalted rulers, the Sultan, his 
illustrious ally, Kaiser Wilhelm II, our victory- 
crowned allied armies and the great German and 
Turkish Peoples. Sie leben hoch! Tschok Yas- 
chasyn. ' ' 

It is stated in the newspaper report above trans- 
lated that those present joined in a lusty hurrah. 
This speech was then translated from the Turkish 
into Tartar by one of the officials present (Nord 
Deutsch Alg. Ztng. May 30, 1916). 

One can picture Sir Eoger Casement making 
such a speech to the Irish in Limburg and one 
could also truthfully report that there was a very 
spirited response, but of a somewhat different 
nature than that above quoted in the camp at Zos- 
sen. What results this spirited appeal to the 
faithful produced was not mentioned in this jour- 
nal in its subsequent issues. 

To do good for the sake of doing good is one 



POLITICAL CAMPS 135 

thing; to do good on the other hand for an ulterior 
purpose and with the motive that could not even 
be stretched into a semblance of virtue, seemed to 
be the object of the political camps. 



CHAPTER X 

WORKING CAMPS 

IN" previous wars it was the custom to exchange 
prisoners of war, man for man, officer for offi- 
cer, of equal grades or multiples of lesser grade for 
officers of higher rank. During the present war 
no such exchange has taken place. The prisoners " 
so badly wounded that there was no possibility of 
their being further employed in military service, 
munition works, etc., have been exchanged. If we 
examine into the reasons for this deviation from 
the practice of previous wars we will find that it 
rests largely upon the economic problem involved 
in the countries at war. At the end of the first 
year of the war two factors entered largely into 
the decision of the German Government to use the 
prisoner of war as a workman. On account of the 
blockade by the British fleet the production of 
food for the German population and for the pris- 
oner of war became a pressing and urgent prob- 
lem. The use of munitions had far exceeded that 
which the military authorities had counted upon 
and the conversion of many industries to this use, 
with an attempt to maintain the national indus- 
tries of the country, led to the demand of an in- 
creased amount of labor. The war had already 

136 



WORKING CAMPS 137 

drawn into the fighting ranks every able-bodied 
man between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. 
Germany has under arms nine millions of men. 
From an economic standpoint we must consider 
each man as a working machine for the conversion 
of energy. The amount of work that may be ex- 
pected from such a machine can be fairly esti- 
mated from the amount of the intake of food in 
heat units. Each man in ordinary work uses up 
six hundred food units (calories) for the purpose 
of work. When this is calculated for nine mil- 
lions of men in the army, it means that the re- 
maining group, male and female, are burdened 
with an overload of at least fifteen per cent. In 
order to compensate for this extra work the men- 
tal, muscular and nervous strain — a correspond- 
ing increase of food becomes necessary. When 
on account of lack of food the native population 
is not able to take on this extra work the German 
Government and the military authorities naturally 
turned to the one million six hundred thousand 
able-bodied men, prisoners of war under their au- 
thority and for whose keep they were responsible 
to supply it. 

Would this large body of men, hostile in spirit, 
give aid and comfort to their enemy in any such 
fashion? Of this evidently the military author- 
ities never had any doubt. The prisoner of war 
was a military problem; he would take orders 
when given him or if he disobeyed or resisted, 
so much the worse for him. Furthermore, there 



138 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

was the international law of right on their side, in- 
asmuch as it is stated in the Hague Convention: — 

1907. Article 6 

The State may utilize the labor of prisoners of war ac- 
cording to their rank and aptitude, officers excepted. The 
tasks shall not be excessive and shall have no connection 
with the operations of the war. 

Prisoners may be authorized to work for the public service, 
for private persons, or on their own account. 

Work done for the State is paid at the rates in force for 
work of a similar kind done by soldiers of the national 
army, or, if there are none in force, at a rate according to 
the work executed. 

When the work is for other branches of the public service 
or for private persons the conditions are settled in agreement 
with the military authorities. 

The wages of the prisoners shall go towards improving 
their position, and the balance shall be paid them on their 
release, after deducting the cost of their maintenance. 

Would it not be better to have the thousands of 
German prisoners in French and British camps 
working in their home industries? They would 
work more willingly without guard and with bet- 
ter results. Why not, therefore, exchange prison- 
ers ? As far as Great Britain was concerned, the 
proportion of trained men in Germany to those 
in Great Britain was tremendously on the side of 
Germany. To exchange twenty thousand mem- 
bers of the expeditionary force, all trained, pro- 
fessional soldiers, for twenty thousand German 
soldiers would not add very much to the German 
army, but would be the big asset for the newly 
formed Kitchener army. It was further assumed 




A working camp 




Internment camp at Holzminden 



WORKING CAMPS 139 

that the German prisoner of war in England would 
be of little value for the British on account of the 
resistance of the labor unions to their employment 
in industries. For these reasons Germany had 
everything to lose and little to gain by such an 
exchange. These same reasons obtained in refer- 
ence to the French prisoners, but to a less marked 
degree. German prisoners were employed in 
France, but here again the four hundred thousand 
French prisoners would be a greater asset to 
France with its smaller army than an equal num- 
ber of German prisoners would be to Germany. 
The British prisoners, and to a large extent the 
French prisoners, were supplied with food from 
France and England. This very large food im- 
portation was of tremendous assistance in supply- 
ing food necessary for productive purposes. The 
repatriated German prisoner would have to be fed 
entirely by German products. In France and 
in England the prisoner of war was well fed and 
cared for. This, therefore, was an additional 
reason. 

With all these matters clearly in mind the pris- 
oner was put to work. He was employed in all 
conceivable kinds of skilled and unskilled labor. 
After almost a year of this experiment it may be 
stated, in a general way, from the standpoint of 
results that the experiment was successful. In 
agricultural work the efficiency mark reached cer- 
tainly 80 per cent. I have discussed this subject 
with the directors of all kinds of manufacturing 



140 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

industries, but while there was a tendency to de- 
preciate the value of prisoner-of-war labor it may 
be stated in a general way that the efficiency varies 
between 50 and 75 per cent. After months of 
training, the efficiency very often was even higher 
than this. When it is taken into consideration 
that the pay for this labor was very small and in 
the case of the British prisoner he was self-sup- 
porting as to food, the income from a German 
standpoint was very high. Farm labor, for exam- 
ple, was paid in twenty pfennigs (four to five 
cents) per day. The attitude of the employer in- 
depreciating the prisoner-of-war labor was often 
Hhe preliminary excuse for harsh and forceful 
measures in order to increase the labor output. It 
was hardly to be expected that the prisoner of war 
would work with the same spirit and energy as the 
German workman. After months of experience it 
was a common statement made by the directors of 
plants employing prison labor, that if the prisoner 
of war was well fed and well treated good results 
could be obtained. Here again it was realized 
that, even when the spirit was willing, the amount 
of energy unit to be derived from the human ma- 
chine was in direct proportion to the heat units 
taken in, and that a certain amount could be elim- 
inated by proper housing, good clothing, good san- 
itation, and a humane attitude that lessened the 
mental and nervous strain to confinement. When 
these conditions were met, when the prisoner was 



WORKING CAMPS 141 

well treated, exceptionally good results were 
obtained. 

The prisoner of war realized that physically, 
mentally and morally he was much better off em- 
ployed in some useful occupation than confined in 
the depressed atmosphere of listless waiting day 
by day in a large camp. "When, however, the con- 
ditions at work were unpleasant, when the atmos- 
phere of the barracks was more gloomy and unhy- 
gienic than in the parent camp, the men were not 
only discontented, but did their work unwillingly 
and with unfavorable results in every direction. 

During the summer of 1916 it may be conserva- 
tively stated that out of the 1,600,000 prisoners of ^^ 
war at least 75 per cent, or 1,200,000 were em- 
ployed in productive industries. Quite a large 
proportion were employed in agriculture. It may 
be stated in a general way that prisoners employed 
in farm labor were well treated and cared for by 
the farmer population. The distinction between 
the German people and the German Government 
was here very manifest. The prisoner of war, 
whether he be British, French or Eussian, working 
in the fields with his employer and his family, eat- 
ing at the same table and often housed in the same 
house soon lost the character of a hated enemy and 
became a simple plain human being with compan- 
ionable qualities. In such cases there was little 
complaint as to food and the farmer's own food 
products, increased by the food packages received 



142 THE PEISONEE OF WAR IN GEEMANY] 

from home, afforded enough nutrition to keep the 
prisoner in good health and with a minimum of 
discontent. In the smaller farmer communities 
the relationship between the prisoner of war and 
the farmer population became a matter of concern 
to the military authorities and a notice was posted 
in all the smaller villages making it a penal offense 
to have any communication with the prisoner of 
war. The farmer employer was usually made of- 
ficially a military guard of his prisoners, if indeed 
he was not already a member of the Landsturm. 
On such farms the prisoner was given a large de- 
gree of liberty. He was often found alone in the 
fields tilling the soil and at times permitted to 
drive into the village alone. In most of the army 
corps the prisoners did not live with the farmer, 
but were housed in the assembly hall of the village 
inn; here from thirty to two hundred prisoners 
would be housed at night under a German guard, 
of a noncommissioned officer and two to six men. 
They would breakfast in the early morning and 
would then be distributed to the farms in the sur- 
rounding country. They would have the midday 
meal with the farmer and return at nightfall to the 
barrack. Usually this arrangement was relatively 
satisfactory and when it was not it was due to the 
brutal and inconsiderate attitude of the guard. 
This, however, was the rare exception. The Brit- 
ish and French prisoners were as a rule popular 
with their farmer employers and their families and 
when well treated made excellent workmen. The 



WORKING CAMPS 143 

prisoner rarely attempted to escape and rarely 
requested to be returned to the parent camp. 
Even when isolated he picked up a pidgin German 
sufficient for purposes of communication. This 
vocabulary, however, was too limited for the dis- 
cussion of political questions and there was less 
discussion here as to "who started the war" than 
elsewhere in the civilized world. Prisoners em- 
ployed by the larger landholders were less well 
treated and often without any evidence of the hu- 
man relationship that on a smaller farm made for 
relative contentment. Two elements made for un- 
happiness in the life of the prisoner of war, i.e., the 
presence of the guard with a fixed bayonet when- 
ever a man looked up from his work, thus remind- 
ing him of his state and recalling the second ele- 
ment of worry, i.e., the fate of his family, what 
had become of them and what was to be their fu- 
ture. On the farm the bayonet was entirely ab- 
sent or only appeared with the guard at nightfall. 
A different story is to be told of land reclama- 
tion projects. Here we begin to deal with the 
soulless corporation, here we begin to deal with a 
system of peonage. Apart from the agricultural 
population the rest of the prisoners of war em- 
ployed in labor are loaned out to corporations 
against their will and often against their princi- 
ples, to be forced to work at the point of the bay- 
onet, and whose health and welfare and often 
whose life are of secondary consequence to the 
results to be obtained from their labor. One can 



144 THE PRISONER OP WAR IN GERMANY 

easily see here the possibilities for great evil. We 
may assume that a corporation has no soul. 
When the brains of the corporation realized in the 
case of the prisoner as the slaveowner does with 
the slave that nervous, mental and physical health 
are financial assets, the prisoner is well treated as 
a matter of business policy. Unfortunately the 
directorate of the large proportions of these indus- 
tries were lacking in this type of brain power and 
this strangely enough was as often found in a 
large, rich corporation, employing thousands of 
men as in small corporations employing a few 
hundred. 

The reason why land reclaimant projects pre- 
sent conditions worse even than those met with 
in the mining and steel industry is because this 
work is let out by the contract system and the con- 
tractor was concerned only with immediate results 
at the minimum expenditure for housing, food, etc. 
Eeclamation projects for swamp land presents an 
unhealthy type of work. When all these condi- 
tions were taken into consideration it is not sur- 
prising to find that serious trouble often devel- 
oped in these camps. The bad handling and nag- 
ging unreasonable attitude of the guard produces 
a state of mind on the part of the prisoner which is 
decidedly resistant and pugnacious. The prisoner 
works throughout the entire day on wet moorland, 
lives on a monotonous diet of canned foods and 
returns each night to sordid, dirty, overcrowded 



v 



WORKING CAMPS 145 

barracks. This monotonous slave work continues 
day after day and month after month. An un- 
reasonable guard is bad enough for men in such a 
temper, but when in addition to this the guard is 
imbued with the idea and spirit of the contractor 
and his foreman in driving these men to do ex- 
ceptional work, to get the last ounce of energy out 
of them, resistance and refusal to obey may be 
expected. The prisoner of war has no legal 
method of protest ; if he refused to work this is a 
penal offence for which in most of the army corps 
he is court martialed. Theoretically he ought to 
have the right of appeal to the commandant of the 
camp. When conditions are bad, and he insists 
upon this right, a charge of refusing to work is 
lodged against him by an unsympathetic guard, 
and in such instances the word of the guard is 
taken against that of the prisoner. Theoretically 
the prisoner of war has a right to appeal to the 
American Embassy by letter, if the guard does 
not tear up the letter, or the prison camp author- 
ities refuse to forward it on the rights reserved 
by them, as I have noted elsewhere. Unless, there- 
fore, a member of the Embassy should come across 
these cases in the routine inspection, nothing is 
done and bad conditions grow worse. While the 
German Army may have an inspection of their 
own, as far as I could determine this consists of a, 
report from the guard, and I never came across 
any evidence of an abatement of evil by such in- 



V 



146 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY! 

spection. For this reason a routine inspection of 
all prison camps was planned. The magnitude of 
this task may be imagined when in the fourth army 
corps alone we were told that there were some 
eighteen thousand working camps, in three 
thousand of which British prisoners were em- 
ployed. 

WORKING CAMPS AND MINES 

Coal mining industry in Germany includes 
not only the deep underground mines, but also the 
mining of a soft brown coal from immense surface 
pits where the overlying layers of sand have been 
removed by excavation. In the surface mining the 
prisoner of war is employed in loading and un- 
loading the cars and most often the sand cars 
rather than the coal cars. He is as a rule not em- 
ployed in the pits and the British prisoner was not 
employed in the factories for compressing the soft 
granular coal into bricklets. The French prison- 
ers were, however, employed in this industry. 
The prisoners were as a rule well housed and well 
treated in this soft coal district. In the deep un- 
derground coal pits or coal mines an entirely dif- 
ferent problem was presented. The mining of the 
coal does not differ in process from the same type 
of mining elsewhere. The prisoner of war is em- 
ployed in the mines as miner's helpers and in the 
underground transportation of the coal. Inas- 
much as he is part of a military problem he should 
take his orders only from the guard. A civilian 



WORKING CAMPS 147 

foreman, according to this principle, would direct 
the guard, who would in turn order the men to do 
certain types of work. In the coal mining indus- 
try the guard remained on the surface while his 
prisoners were sent into the mines and were sub- 
ject to the orders of the German mine foreman. 
This delegation of authority often gave rise to 
trouble. Through race hatred, or for other rea- 
sons, a prisoner could be very brutally handled 
by the German workmen in the mines. This could, 
however, only be with the cognizance and tacit per- 
mission of the guard. There is no industry where 
such great difference is seen both in the treatment 
of the men and the effect of good treatment on 
Work production. In two camp mines in the same 
(district and within a few miles of each other I have 
seen this contrast well demonstrated. In one of 
the mining camps conditions were indescribably 
faad; the housing arrangements were dirty, and 
idangerous and unsanitary. The food was bad, the 
guard was unreasonable, and the mine directors 
suspicious, mercenary and altogether a bad lot. 
( They declined to show us anything and refused us 
permission to even talk to the men except when 
they were present. While the men were talking 
they busied themselves, ostentatiously taking 
notes and glowering at the poor prisoner. The 
guard was completely under their domination ; this 
treatment had brutalized the men to such an extent 
that almost anything in the way of resistance or 
rebellion might happen. The men were compelled 



148 THE PRISONER OF. WAR IN GERMANY 

to work when they were ill and an inspection of the 
report will show the general nature of the 
medical attention. In another camp the director 
of the mines was only too glad to show everything 
in connection with his place. The men were 
housed comfortably, had exceptionally good facil- 
ities for bathing, were permitted recreation and 
were treated in a human and sympathetic way. 
The mine authorities had no complaint to make 
against the prisoners and stated that they were 
good workmen. The prisoners on the other hand 
had no complaint to make, did not object to work- 
ing in the mine, and their only request was that an 
English prisoner be sent from the parent camp as 
a workman who could play the piano which they 
had bought and installed in a large room with 
sufficient space for entertainments. The reaction 
of the prisoner to his surroundings is no better 
shown than in these two camps. The following 
are two official reports that will serve to contrast 
these two conditions : 

Number of Prisoners of "War. There are at 
this camp 375 prisoners of war, of whom 35 are 
British. The ranking noncommissioned officer 

is Lance-Corporal A. W. C , 2nd Battalion, 

Sherwood Foresters. 

Place of Employment. A coal mine near the 
city of Herno (Zech Friedrich der Grosae). 

Nature of Work. All the British here are em- 
ployed underground in the mine, shoveling coal, 
loading ores, driving teams, etc. 



WORKING CAMPS 149 

Houes of Work. There are two shifts, as fol- 
lows : 

Shift No. 1, 6 a. m. to 2 p. m. 

Shift No. 2, 2 p. m. to 10 p. m. 

There is a rest period of twenty minutes about the 
middle of either shift, not, however, at any defin- 
ite time. On Saturdays one half of the men, every 
other week in turn, work from 4 a. m. to 12 noon, 
and then return to work at 9 p. m. the same night 
and work until 5 a.m. the next morning (i.e., 
Sunday). The weeks work equals 56 hours. 

Pay. The men are paid eighty pfennigs for 
each shift of eight hours. 

Housing. The 375 prisoners of war are all 
housed in a barrack improvised from an old brick 
factory building, near the mine shaft. There are 
two rooms on the ground floor, a small entrance or 
hall room, and a larger room, approximately 75 x 
42 feet. A flooring has been put in 16 feet above , 
the floor to form a new room above. In this upper 
room the British were housed. The upper room 
was approximately 45 x 42 feet and 12 feet full 
height. The upper portion of five of the building 
windows give relatively little light and practi- 
cally no ventilation. Some of the window-panes 
have been deliberately removed by the men in 
order to get more air. Two open wood stairways 
connect this room with the room below. The beds 
and straw mattresses are placed en masse directly 
in the floor in a sort of box arrangement. Each 



150 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY, 

man is supplied with two blankets, so called. As a 
matter of fact, many of these covers were ex- 
tremely light and could in no wise be considered 
as blankets. Some of the men had blankets of the 
regular type. 

The whole barrack, and particularly the room 
where the British are housed, is extremely dirty. 
The blankets are dirty, the mattresses are dirty, 
the floors are dirty, the entrance room is dirty and 
wet and sloppy from wash troughs just outside 
the door. Here, on the steps leading into the first 
floor is a room used for a night latrine, with a sin- 
gle bucket; the arrangement is dirty, and has a 
foul odor, which finds its way into the building, 
and about which much complaint was made by the 
men. Thirty five British are housed in this room. 

Latkines. The night latrine, above described, 
is insufficient for the night needs of 370 men 
housed in these buildings. The day latrine is sit- 
uated in a near-by shed, built up against a build- 
ing. It is of the flushing system, with sewer con- 
nection, and has five porcelain hoppers with seats. 
It is clean, in good order, and unobjectionable. 
It is, however, inadequate for the needs of 370 
men. 

Canteen - . The canteen contains various toilet 
articles, soft drinks, tobacco, one variety of cakes, 
and several kinds of sausage. 

Post and Pakcels. Both mail and parcels 
have been irregular and delayed. At times par- 
cels do not arrive for two or three weeks. Often 



' - WORKING CAMPS 151 

the men are out of food from parcels for days and 
must then rely entirely on the camp food. 

Exercise. The men are not allowed to go out- 
side of the small compound, which is not large 
enough for football or other forms of relaxa- 
tion. There is plenty of open space in the coun- 
try surrounding the mine. There is no other form 
of recreation or amusement present here save for 
a small phonograph which the men have in their 
barrack. 

Beligious Services.' Eoman Catholics are 
taken out from time to time to a near-by church. 
The other British have had services at long inter- 
vals in a Union Church, where the pastor is able 
to speak English. 

Medical Attention. A civil physician is em- 
ployed by the company and up to two weeks ago 
visited the camp every other day. For the last 
fortnight he has been making daily visits. Com- 
plaints were made by the men that their com- 
plaints of illness were not properly investigated 
and that the treatment was negligible. The sen- 
ior noncommissioned officer reported that as a re- 
sult of this the men were often sent into the mine 
with bad colds and other types of illness, when 
they were not fit for work. They had no fault to 
find with the physician, whom they considered a 
good physician, but stated that there was entirely 
too much work for one physician for the time at 
his and their disposal. The physician was sent 
for by Freiherr yon Holzhousen of the Inspection 



152 THE PEISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

at Munster. The physician stated that he could 
only afford an hour for' his visits to the camp. 
His records showed that during this period of time 
he saw and prescribed for one day 42 men, one 
day 46, one 35. This was taken at random from 
pages of the record. Of this number from 10 to 
15 were new cases reporting for examination. It 
is evident from this record that the complaints 
made by the men as to investigation of their cases 
are justified. 

Baths. There are two rooms, one of which is 
used as a store room for the pit clothes ; the other 
room adjoining is a bath room fitted up with six- 
teen showers with hot and cold water. This is 
clean and in good order. 

The facilities for washing consist of two short 
troughs against the wall of the entrance room to 
the barrack building, and is entirely inadequate 
for the needs of the men, in addition to being un- 
sightly and slopping up the lower barrack room. 
Only cold water is here supplied. An oblong tub 
in the compound is available for the use of the 
men in doing their personal laundry work. This 
again is entirely inadequate for the number of men 
in this camp. 

Kitchen. The kitchen and dining room are in 
an adjoining barrack. A German woman cook, 
with two women assistants, prepare the food. 
The kitchen has four kettles and a range. The 
food for the midday meal, consisting of a thick 
soup of beans and dried vegetables was to be 



WORKING CAMPS 153 

served with pickled herring. We tasted the soup 
and found it not unpalatable, though inferior in 
flavor to the average camp soup. The men stated 
that the bread ration was 200 grammes per day. 
This was confirmed by one of the guards. Po- 
tatoes have not been served for several weeks. 
The men stated that they saw no evidence of meat 
in the camp for three months. A meal soup is 
served at 5 a. m. for breakfast, no coffee being 
served at this time. A coffee ration and herring 
or sausage is taken into the mine for second break- 
fast. Dinner at 3 p. m. is usually a meal with veg- 
etable soup. At 7 p. m. soup is again served in 
the form of a meat gruel. 

Complaints. Complaints were made by the men 
of: 

(a) The barracks overcrowding, lack of ventila- 
tion and latrines. 

(b) Eough handling by one of the guards. 

(c) Rough handling by the civilian foreman in 
the mine. 

(d) Insufficient food. 

(e) Insufficient medical attention. 

(f ) Lack of space for exercise and recreation. 

(g) The exceptionally long hours of work in the 
change of shift. 

(h) That complaints made by letter to the 
American Embassy received no attention. 

Complaints, (a) The condition of the bar- 
racks has already been described. The men had 
been living here for nine months. L They did not 



154 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANYi I 

appear to be in good health. The work in the 
mine during the day, and the lack of sunlight and 
fresh air in the barracks, together with the over- 
crowding, and the location of the British in the 
upper part of the building, where the foul air 
naturally collects, would all have a tendency to 
contribute to this condition. 

(b) The men complained that one of the guards' 
pushed and hauled the men about at times and 
took an antagonistic attitude towards them which 
he did not show to other prisoners. From this 
they inferred that his attitude and actions were 
engendered by a particular antipathy to British 
prisoners of war. 

(c) The men complained that some of the civil- 
ian foremen in the mine, under whom they 
worked, were rough in the handling of the men 
and at times used physical violence towards them. 
As an example of this they quoted the cases of 

Private G , L , and L . Private L 

had been returned to the camp. Private G 

who was at work in the mine was sent for, and 
when he came up, made the following statement. 

He stated that he and L were working on 

May 26th, in Tunnel 92a, and that the civilian 
threatened them with his pick. They therefore 
refused to work on account of fear of his violence. 
They were then taken out of this tunnel to shaft 
5 where they remained for several hours up until 
5 p. m., when a civilian foreman came to them and 
asked them if they would go to work. G 




u 



WORKING CAMPS 155 

stated that lie would and followed the civilian fore- 
man towards the work designated. When he ar- 
rived at 200 ft. from shaft 5 he was hit on the 
back of the head, under the ear, with a stick by the 
civilian behind him; two other civilians who had 
concealed their lamps and up to then were not 
seen by him rushed at him, threw him down, and 
kicked him in the left chest and left leg. They 
then took him up in the cage (lift) to the Feld- 
webel; as the cage approached the surface one of 
the men gave him a violent blow on the jaw with 
his fist. On account of the bruises, pains in the 
chest, and headaches he was unable to work for a 
month. The guards tried to force him to work at 
first, but later he was permitted to lay off. Since 
that time he has returned to work. 

Thomas W. L , who was seen at the parent 

camp at Munster 1, corroborated the statement of 

G as to the above occurrence, and stated that 

he was present when the civilian threatened G 

with a raised pick; that he was on the following 
day looking for the head foreman when he met 

G on the same errand; that he, L , had 

been working, and because he had changed hands 
when he was pushing the car, he had been beaten 

by two civilians; that they (G and L ) 

were waiting at shaft 5 when they agreed to the 
suggestion that they return to work, when the as- 
sault occurred as above stated. L did not see 

what happened to G , but stated that he 

(L ) was thrown to the ground by two of the 



156 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

civilians and then beaten with clubs and kicked; 
that they were taken up in the cage (lift) to re- 
port to the Feldwebel. L did not see any- 
body hit G in the cage, but the cage was dark 

and he did not see everything that might have oc- 
curred. L was not a witness to the above oc- 
currence and stated that he had had some quarrel 
with a civilian foreman, but that the trouble was 
largely his own fault, and he had no complaint to 
make about it. He had suffered three days ar- 
rest for this offense. He stated that when he had 
worked in the mine there had been no rough 
treatment on the part of the civilians, nor had 
he seen any in that part of the mine. An action 
in a civil court had been brought against the civi- 
lian involved in the above offense, and the testi- 
mony of both men had been heard. The case as 
yet has not been terminated. 

(d) Insufficient medical attention has already 
been considered under medical care. 

(e) The exceptionally long hours of work at 
the change of shift are considered under the re- 
port of other working camps. 

(f) Insufficient food. The testimony of the 
men as to the insufficient quantity of food was 
very positive. We asked for the weekly menu, but 
did not secure it prior to our departure. It was 
promised us by mail by a representative of the 
mine. 

(g) All the matters above complained of were 
brought to the attention of the inspection at Mun- 



"WORKING CAMPS 157 

ster, who promised that the conditions there would 
be remedied as soon as possible. A staff medical 
officer was sent the following day to look into the 
question of the medical care of the camp. The 
legal action against the civilians will be pushed 
to an eventual conclusion. The barracks, we were 
promised, would have immediate attention and 
the evils above mentioned would be corrected by 
removing the British from their present quarters 
to hygienic surroundings. In a later statement 
from the inspection at Munster we are advised 
that the British are to be removed from the garret 
barrack and are to be provided with other and 
proper quarters as a result of the chief medical 
officer of the inspection, above referred to. 

WORKING CAMP AT LANGENDREER (ZECHESIEBEN 
FLAENTEN) PARENT CAMP MUNSTER II 

The following is an official report of a visit of 
inspection of the working camp for prisoners of 
war at Langendreer, on July 17, 1916. 

Previous Beports. Mr. Dresel on April 11th, 
1916. 

Prisoners of War. Total 309, British 143, 
Senior noncommissioned officer, Corporal H. 
B , Eoyal Dublin Fusiliers. 

Place of Work. Coal mines and coke ovens in 
the town of Langendreer. 

Nature of Work. Seventy British prisoners of 
war work in the mine handling coal, driving teams, 
etc. ; the others are employed in feeding the coke 



158 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

ovens, withdrawing the coke, and in general work 
about the plant. The senior noncommissioned of- 
ficer is employed in the office and is in charge of 
the parcels. 

Hours of Work. Day shift : 6 a. m. to 8 a. m. ; 
8.30 a. m. to 12 noon ; 1.30 p. m. to 4 or 5 p. m. 
Night shift : 5 p. m. to 9 p. m. ; 9.30 p. m. to 1a.m.; 
3 a. m. to 7 A. M. 

On the change of shift every other Sunday, the 
men work for twenty-four hours, with the inter- 
mission stated above. Although the men are paid 
five marks for this double shift, they would prefer 
to have it changed. 

Pay. The men are paid from marks 1 to marks 
1.20 per day with 5 marks for the double shift, and 
the coke men 80 or 90 pfennigs for a half day 
Sunday when they work. 

Barracks. Since Mr. DresePs report, changes 
have been made in the housing arrangements fol- 
lowing the suggestions made therein. 

The first barrack, 35x27x20 feet has 24 
built-in, double-tier, bunks arranged around one 
side, leaving a large floor area free. There are 
four large windows and two ventilators. The 
mattresses are of straw, with three blankets, all 
in good condition and well cared for. In the cor- 
ner of the room is a wash sink, adequate for the 
twenty-two men in this room. The room has 
plenty of light, is clean and well ventilated. It 
has a piano and the room is used as a concert and 
recreation room by the British in the camp. 



WORKING CAMPS 159 

The second barrack is a gable, wood barrack, 
65x18 feet and 15 feet high. It has four win- 
dows and two new ventilators, 3x8 feet in the 
roof installed according to suggestions made by 
Mr. Dresel at the time of his inspection. This 
gives to this room plenty of ventilation and there 
is now nothing to complain about in this barrack. 
The beds and bedding are in Barrack No. 1. 
Thirty-five men are housed here. 

The third barrack is a transformed factory 
building, as described in Mr. Dresel 's report. 
The barrack has three rooms, arranged in "U" 
shape ; the smaller room is approximately 16 x 34 
feet ; the room opposite to this is 16 x 30 feet ; and 
the large room where the British are housed is 
approximately 40 x 30 feet x 20 high. This latter 
room has four large windows, and three new ven- 
tilators, have been installed since Mr. Dresel 's 
visit. A small room adjoining the large room, 
houses six British. This room is 20 x 12 feet. 
The bed and bedding are the same as in the other 
barracks. There is a wash room with six basins 
between the two end rooms. 

Latrines. The latrine is of the pail system, 
housed in a long outhouse and has 20 large-sized 
pails, covered by wooden top seats. These are 
emptied daily, are disinfected after use, and at 
the time of inspection were in good condition. 
They had the odor of the disinfectant and were 
unobjectionable. A urinal with running water is 
provided. 



160 THE PRISONER OF. WAR IN GERMANY 

Baths. The baths have been described in de- 
tail in the previous report. They are exception- 
ally good, with modern equipment. Laundry 
facilities are provided in the form of two troughs 
with hot and cold water, with a capacity for simul- 
taneous use by twenty-two men. 

Kitchen. The kitchen, canteen, and dining- 
room are housed in a separate, wood, barrack 
building. The kitchen is equipped with three 
kettles and a range. The food is prepared by two 
prisoner-of-war cooks, one of whom is British 

(Lance Corporal H ). He stated that the 

food stuffs supplied to the kitchen were of good 
quality. We inspected and tested the food pre- 
pared for the noon meal. It consisted of a meat 
and vegetable soup of good flavor. 

The British cook stated that the British prison- 
ers of war usually took the noonday meal, but 
subsisted largely otherwise from the contents of 
their own packages. A director of the company, 
who accompanied us on our visit, stated that the 
cost of food per man was marks 1.65 per day. 
The men are permitted to use the range to cook 
the food from their own packages received from 
home, and hot water for tea is provided. 

Canteen. The canteen has for sale wine, soft 
drinks, tobacco, toilet articles, cakes and biscuits. 

Mail and Paecels. Both mail and parcels are 
delivered. The parcels are very much delayed at 
times in transit from the parent camp. 

Clothes and Shoes. All the British have good 



WORKING CAMPS 161 

clothes, underclothes and shoes, with the excep- 
tion of seven men from the Koyal Warwick Regi- 
ment who are in need of the black uniforms for use 
when not working. 

Recreation. The men have the use of the yard 
for exercise. They requested a large place for 
football. A large field next to the works will be 
assigned to the men in a short time, when the 
grain has been harvested. 

The men have bought a piano, which is placed 
in Barrack No. 1, and this, together with four 
other instruments, form a small orchestra. 

Religious Seevices. The Roman Catholics are 
permitted to go to church from time to time. The 
British have been taken out two or three times to 
a Union Church (Methodist) where the pastor is 
able to speak to them in English. The clergyman 
has visited the men from time to time, but not dur- 
ing the last three months. The request of the men 
that they be taken to his church from time to time, 
or, that if he cared to visit the camp, he be per- 
mitted to do so, was readily granted. 

Complaints. The only complaint the men had 
to make, apart from the delay in the parcels, was 
in reference to the long Sunday shift every sec- 
ond week. This matter was taken up with the 
inspection for prisoners of war at Munster. It 
was stated that this was a difficult matter, and the 
present shift was that of the German workmen in 
times of peace and at the present time. The in- 
spection would, however, give this matter its at- 



162 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

tention and rearrange the time if possible, but did 
not think much could be done. 

Comments. The overcrowding referred to by 
Mr. Dresel in his report has been largely corrected 
by a reduction in the number of prisoners of war 
from 351 to 309. The changes in the barracks 
suggested by him have already been effected. 
There is a good spirit between the men, the man- 
agement and the noncommissioned officer in 
charge. The attitude of the management, in their 
care of the men after attention has been called to 
it, appears to us to be all that can be desired. 
There is now nothing to complain of in reference 
to this camp. 

Attached to coal mines and often a corporate 
part of the business corporation were found coke 
and steel industries. While the same variation 
obtained as to the housing and treatment of the 
men, in the majority of cases the treatment was 
good. The work was hard and the hours at times 
were long, particularly on the change of shift at 
the end of the week. Extra compensation was 
paid to the men who had mastered the technical 
details of the work. Complaint was made from 
time to time that munitions were being made in the 
larger establishment. Only in rare instances 
were prisoners found who came in direct contact 
with munition work. As a rule, the British pris- 
oner of war refused to work directly on muni- 
tions j for refusal to do this work in some instances' 



WORKING CAMPS 163 

the prisoner was punished and in other instances 
transferred to other work. In one of the muni- 
tion works inspected a British prisoner was found 
stamping shell cases; in direct connection with 
this subject is the manufacture of explosives. 
British prisoners of war were found assigned to 
this work in one of the camps inspected. 

MISCELLANEOUS INDUSTRIOUS WORK 

Prisoners are found at work in practically every 
variety of industry. They are employed either on 
the railroad, doing construction work, repairing 
the road-bed, or in loading or unloading cars; in 
ordinary road construction work both in and out 
of the military zone, in brick works, in quarries, 
in iron and steel factories, in the construction of 
buildings, in the disposal of garbage and waste, 
in retail coal yards, etc. 

Housing. In large industrial plants special bar- 
racks have been constructed and during the sum- 
mer of 1916 the general tendency on the part of 
the large employer of prison labor and at the in- 
stance of the German authorities a tendency was 
shown to approach a model type of construction 
with good treatment, plenty of light and ventila- 
tion. In near-by plants a rivalry in a camp for 
prison labor was sometimes shown. In large in- 
dustrial centers a portion of the factory building 
was sometimes used, at times ordinary dwelling 
houses in cities were transformed into barracks. 
Each prisoner was supplied with a mattress ; this 



164 THE PRISONER OF. [WAR IN GERMANY 

might be laid on the floor in a single or double tier 
bunk or placed on a double tier army cot. Each 
prisoner was supplied with two blankets. Be- 
tween the conditions described at Heme and a 
model camp all grades of good and bad conditions 
are met with. It might be stated that the arrange- 
ment for a poor type of workman might be con- 
sidered good, but viewed from the standpoint of 
many of the enlisted men in the new army, both 
English and Colonials, the average to say the least 
of it is uncomfortable. 

Baths and Sanitation in Working Camps. 

In the larger plants free and full facilities for 
bathing are offered. In quite a number of the 
smaller camps no such provision was found. In 
the summer time, however, opportunity was oc- 
casionally offered in the near-by rivers and 
streams near the camps. Latrines are, as a rule, 
in the working camps, of simple construction and 
only rarely, and that in the larger camps, was a 
flushing system met with. Medical attention is 
usually provided by the corporation. Large cor- 
porations usually had their own physician, smaller 
corporations consulted a local physician for ill- 
ness. In many of the prison camps the matter of 
consulting a physician was left to the guard. 
"While as a rule this worked out satisfactorily, at 
times it led to grave injustice to the sick men who 
were neglected by this guard who thought they 
were malingering. When a prisoner was so ill 



WORKING CAMPS 165 

that he could not work he was returned to the 
camp hospital for treatment. 

Food. Except in the agricultural communities 
the British prisoner depends largely upon his 
packages received from home. In many of the 
large working camps the fact that the well-fed 
prisoner does better work led to an increase in the 
ordinary prison ration. 

Complaints were almost universal as to the 
quantity and quality of the food served. Apart 
from the coffee served in the morning and the oc- 
casonal pickled fish in the evening, the main meal 
in the day was in the form of a soup. While the 
prisoner did not like this and complained about it 
when at hard work, he partook of it to reenforce 
his food package. The ration of bread was 300 
grammes (about 10 ounces). During the summer 
of 1915 meat ration was 300 grammes (about 10 
ounces). In some of the camps the meat ration 
was exceeded and was occasionally served as meat 
instead of in the form of soup. 

Clothing. Practically all the British prisoners 
were supplied with clothes from England. The 
regulations provided that when a prisoner leaves 
the parent camp he must be supplied with suit- 
able clothing and leather boots, but after the work 
has begun he must make replacements from his' 
own wages. In rare instances the prisoner was 
unable to secure leather shoes and was obliged 
to wear sabots. The working clothes of the pris- 
oner of war are made distinctive by sewing into 



166 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY, 

the sleeve of the coat a yellow stripe of canvas 
about three inches wide and a stripe of equal 
width into either trouser leg. In addition to this 
the prisoner's number is often stamped on the 
coat. This uniform is distinctive and attempts 
to escape are infrequent. I have known prisoners 
to successfully escape from a working camp and 
return safely to the parent camp instead of at- 
tempting to leave the country. 

Compensation foe "Work. Compensation is 
calculated for work by the day ; in rare instances J 
by the piece ; and in some instances an allotted , 
quantity of work must be finished each day. The 
rate of pay is determined by contract between the 
employers and the army corps commanders. The 
contractor pays to the prisoner one quarter of the 
fixed wage, the other three quarters are expended 
for housing, support and guarding. While he is 
not compelled to supply him with clothes, in some 
of the mines and large industries working clothes 
were furnished. If the workman is supposed to 
equal in his output that of the German workman 
he is paid a quarter that of the normal wage. If, 
however, his employer estimates him at only fifty 
cents, he is paid in this proportion. Inasmuch as 
it is considered a risk to let a prisoner of war have 
German money, he is paid in "camp money.' ' 
This camp money is used not only in the working 
camps, but also in the parent camps ; it is entirely 
different from the German currency and both pa- 
per and iron money are distinctively stamped as 



WORKING CAMPS 167 

camp money. The usual compensation for farm 
work was from 16 to 30 pfennigs (3 to 5 cents per 
day), in the smaller industries from 30 to 50 pfen- 
nigs (6 to 10 cents per day) ; in the larger techni- 
cal industries 75 pfennigs to 1 mark per day (15 to 
20 cents per day). In rare instances skilled men 
have been paid as high as two and even three 
marks per day (20 to 75 cents per day). 

In agricultural communities where a prisoner 
is billeted with the farmer, the hours are usually 
those of the German farmhand. "When the pris- 
oner is distributed from the central barrack to 
farms he works from 6 a. m. to 6 or even 7 p. m., 
with an intermission for breakfast at eight o 'clock, 
dinner at one and coffee again at four. If the 
barracks are near the farm he is called at 5 a. m. 
and if at some distance he may be called even ear- 
lier. The hours of labor in an industrial estab- 
lishment are fairly uniform and are as follows : 

From 6 a. m. to 8 a. m. ; 8.15 a. m. to 12 noon ; 
12.30 p. m. to 4 p.m.; 4.15 p. m. to 6 p. m. 

While the labor is rarely excessive, as far as 
we could observe, no attempt was made to select 
men according to their mental and physical quali- 
fications for the particular work to which they 
were assigned. While the men in the army are 
usually physically fit, long periods of incarcera- 
tion in the prison camps with the nervous stress 
and worry often led to a lack of physical and nerv- 
ous tone. Some of the men of lighter build, and 
those who had been ill often, complained of the, 



168 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

severity of the work. Usually as a matter of effi- 
ciency an employer placed such men on lighter 
types of work. It will appear as a matter of gen- 
eral efficiency that it would have been much better 
if some real classification of the prisoner of war 
had been attempted, and work assigned as to 
training and general qualifications. 

In the "Westphalia district much complaint was 
heard as to the British prisoner as a workman. 
He did not work willingly; he gave much trouble, 
and was generally disliked. Some of the com- 
mandants stated that some of the factory employ- 
ers would not accept the British prisoners as 
workmen, and had distinctly specified that they 
would accept only French, Eussian, or Belgians. 
They also, as indeed did the employer, consider 
the French prisoners as the most desirable work- 
men for machine work and the Eussians for agri- 
cultural work. The British prisoner, however, 
was acceptable on the farms and worked there 
willingly and effectively. If we inquire into the 
reasons for this we will find that the British pris- 
oner had much on his side of the argument. A 
consideration of this entails a consideration of the 
problems of the inspection of working camps. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE PROBLEM INVOLVED IN THE INSPECTION" 
OP WORKING CAMPS 

WHILE the prisoner of war was confined in 
large concentration parent camps, the 
problem was in the main sense a military 
one and conditions could be treated from a mili- 
tary standpoint and the inspection considered 
largely as a military one. When evils were to be 
corrected, we dealt either with the military au- 
thorities, or if this failed, by direct negotiations, 
through the foreign office with the Central Minis- 
try of "War. 

When the large majority of prisoners were 
transferred to working camps, entirely new prob- 
lems were presented. While the problem was still 
a military problem in theory, as a matter of prac- 
tice it was converted into a sociological and social 
service problem. The Government, in hiring out 
the prisoner to an industrial corporation, while 
theoretically contracting only for a disposition of 
labor, created new conditions involving the health, 
the housing and the rights of the prisoner in ref- 
erence to humane treatment, recreation, religion, 
etc. In theory these matters still remained under 
the military authorities as represented by the 

;169 



170 THE PRISONER OF .WAR IN GERMANY 

German noncommissioned officer or enlisted 
guard. It was too much, however, to expect that 
a simple soldier would not be influenced, even 
dominated, and indeed his authority superseded, 
by the civilian employer of prison labor. In the 
early days of the working camp problem it became 
evident in certain districts the employers had 
reached an agreement to resist inspection and to 
limit it as far as possible. Their attitude was an- 
tagonistic ; it was only after much trouble in such 
districts that any sort of inspection was permit- 
ted. At this time the rules governing the inspec- 
tion of the working camps were the same as those 
for parent camps embodied in the official permis- 
sion granted by the various provincial war 
ministries. Under this permission a fully com- 
plete inspection pertaining to the housing, the 
health, conditions of work, etc., were cov- 
ered. In the inspection of the working camps 
near Wittenberg it was not only evident that the 
employers of prison labor were in agreement 
amongst themselves to resist inspection, but there 
was also some evidence that this was supported 
by the military authorities. As the summer of 
1916 advanced and following the inspection of 
working camp conditions in the congested manu- 
facturing districts in Westphalia definite restric- 
tions were placed upon the extent to which an in- 
spection could be carried. Large coal and steel 
barons working in this district and having the 
political and financial influence of the Scha Ver- 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 171 

band eventually forced the military authorities 
and the Government into a position which was as 
unfair from a military standpoint as it was to the 
prisoner of war. They held as justification for 
this that if a full inspection were permitted that 
certain trade secrets might be revealed to those 
whose duty it was to make the inspection. While 
this might be true in a few industries, it is difficult 
to see what secrets could be revealed by the in- 
spection of the barracks where coal miners were 
housed or even in the mines themselves. The 
Ministry of War ruled that these camps could only 
be inspected after previous notice, and divided the 
working camps into four groups as follows : 

A. Those in which a full inspection, including 
the place of work, would be permitted. 

B. Where the barracks alone could be inspected. 

C. Where the men could be communicated with 
outside of the premises, but where the inspectors 
would not be permitted to see either the place of 
work or the barracks. 

D. Where no inspection at all was permitted. 
In the Westphalia district, as indeed elsewhere 

in Germany, practically all places, with the excep- 
tion of the agricultural industries, were placed 
under B, C, or D. It was perfectly evident after 
an investigation that the manufacturers them- 
selves had designated their own industries under 
these various classes and that the military author- 
ities had accepted this without question or inves- 
tigation. 



172 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

This apparently made the matter of inspection 
of working camps a farce. In the Westphalia dis- 
trict we were not even permitted to speak to the 
men except in the presence of their civilian em- 
ployers. If, therefore, one could not inspect the 
nature of the work, could not see the barracks in 
which they were housed, could not inspect the san- 
itary arrangements, the food, etc., and could not 
interview the prisoner of war except in the pres- 
ence of the civilian employer and the guard, who 
practically had the power of life and death over 
the men, what possible good could be obtained 
from the difficult and disagreeable work of inspec- 
tion. Notice was served, however, on the army 
corps command that under these circumstances the 
statement of the prisoner of war must be accepted 
by the Embassy as a correct and truthful report 
as to the above conditions and would be so in- 
cluded in the official report upon the subject. 
Even before the above regulations were put in 
force Mr. Dresel, working in the Westphalia dis- 
trict, had given such offense by taking affidavits of 
the prisoners of war as to conditions in places that 
he was not permitted to visit, that the army corps 
command refused to have him make any more 
inspections in this district and this position was 
supported by the Ministry of War. It was found 
as a matter of practical experience by Dr. Taylor 
and myself in the inspection work in this district 
and elsewhere that all these difficulties could be 
surmounted and good results obtained by keeping 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 173 

strictly to a military method of procedure. On a 
reinspection tour of the Westphalia district we 
requested that a staff officer from the army corps 
command be assigned with us for a joint inspec- 
tion. This officer proved to be as anxious to im- 
prove conditions as were we. He soon realized 
that the survey was a matter of scientific proced- 
ure, that our attitude was fair and without bias. 
In working camps which might be classed under 
B or C or D, and where it was perfectly evident 
from the attitude of the employer, the guard, the 
surroundings, and the complaints of the prisoner 
of war, the conditions were not as they should be, 
he himself ordered, upon our request, full liberty 
of inspection. Even in working camps classed 
under B and C where conditions were good pro- 
prietors themselves without question threw their 
whole plant open to full inspection. It became 
perfectly evident, therefore, not only to us, but to 
the German staff officer that in cases where the 
employers stood rigidly upon their classification 
that there was very good ground to believe that 
they had something to hide. This method had 
the further advantage that the representative 
from the army corps command could be shown con- 
ditions as we saw them and could order the cor- 
rection of evils on the spot. He soon realized 
that it would be just as unfair to the employer and 
the military to take the statement of the prisoner 
of war without an investigation, as it was to the 
inspection and to the prisoner of war to forego 



174 THE PRISONER OP WAR IN GERMANY, 

such an inspection. A fair and reasonable atti- 
tude towards conditions as they existed was here 
met with an equally fair and reasonable attitude 
towards the correction of them. While the report 
of some of the matters complained of were imme- 
diately controlled by their own experts, upon the 
final interview with the general in charge of the 
prisoners of war at the army corps headquarters 
the conditions as reported upon were admitted 
and methods of relief and correction agreed upon. 
The essentials for handling of such a complex 
problem are : 

A. An expert knowledge of the fundamental 
principles involved, equal to that of the German 
staff experts. 

B. A knowledge of the military factors in- 
volved. 

C. Ability to have the German military man 
see the problem as it is presented to the neutral 
observer viewing it as a scientific and not a polit- 
ical problem. To have one 's work investigated by 
a German expert and found wanting would natur- 
ally mean failure to secure results not only at this 
time but in subsequent inspections. If to this be 
added the knowledge that the inspectors were men 
educated and trained in German Universities and 
knew what German science in times of peace could 
and would not stand for, much would be added to 
the value of their opinions and protest. 

It soon became evident that the great problem of 
the working camp inspection was its size. In the 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 175 

6tli army corps alone there were 18,000 working 
camps and of this 3,000 included British prison- 
ers of war and probably an equal number of Ser- 
vian prisoners ; in this district, therefore, working 
at the rate of eight working camps a day, it would 
take one group of inspectors a year to cover the 
field for a single inspection. This would leave no 
time for follow-up inspections or for the solving 
of particular problems. One would not consider 
the inspection of parent camps, officers' camps, 
hospitals, insane asylums and jails in the same dis- 
trict. While one visit a year would be sufficient 
for the agricultural country, in the manufacturing 
districts a periodic survey at intervals of every 
three or four months could be made. This would 
not be necessary if the military authorities per- 
mitted free communication with the Embassy by 
the prisoners, or had even permitted a monthly 
report from the noncommissioned officers to the 
Embassy, and if in addition to this, they would 
be willing to report deaths by violence on the part 
of the guard and court martials against prisoners 
of war where extended sentence of jail imprison- 
ment were asked for. Inasmuch as all of these 
matters were refused and were only discovered 
accidentally on routine inspection the necessity 
for constant contact with the prisoners in the 
working camps became evident. The only way 
the field could be approximately covered was by 
well organized method of inspection. This was *J 
finely worked out as follows: Eight inspectors 



176 THE PRISONER OP WAR IN GERMANY 

were assigned to this work, two to six, they were 
to work in pairs; each group was to have head- 
quarters in one of the congested areas instead of 
in Berlin. In this way they would be in close 
touch with the working camps and also with the 
army corps headquarters. Inspection was to be 
routine every four months. The inspectors were 
to report to the secretary of the Embassy, whose 
duty it would be to organize and make this work 
effective. He would have the assistance of a 
trained man to compile records, file and transmit 
reports. This scheme was only partially worked 
out when diplomatic relations were broken. 

On account of the restrictions imposed upon the 
inspection of working camps cooperation with the 
German authorities was to be secured and a joint 
inspection made with an officer assigned from the 
headquarters, whenever possible. 

Inasmuch as the use of the prisoner of war for 
work on such a tremendous scale had never before 
been presented as a problem, many of the difficul- 
ties encountered were due to a lack of understand- 
ing on both sides as to rules and methods of pro- 
cedure. The German authorities, standing on 
The Hague Convention and treating the prisoner 
of war as a trained soldier, ordered him to work 
and expected him to obey without question. They 
did not take into consideration his status as a pris- 
oner and as a human being ; his previous training, 
his mental attitude both towards work and to- 
wards the effect that this might have in aiding the 




0-. 



*m\[\ 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 177 

enemy. As a human being he often reserved the 
right of demand as to what work he was to be as- 
signed, and sometimes refuses to work unless he 
was so told. He complained bitterly that at times 
he was promised certain kinds of work and then 
compelled to do work of an entirely different na- 
ture. Under such circumstances he sometimes" 
refused, thereby coming in conflict with his cap- 
tors. As a human being he also demanded rea- 
sonable living quarters and sufficient food upon 
which to do the work assigned to him. When con- 
ditions were unbearable he demanded the right to 
communicate with his commandant of the parent 
camps. This was practically always refused him 
and often led, as above stated, to an accusation of 
refusing to work or of conspiracy leading to a 
court martial. 

The mental attitude towards work in general. 
From the military standpoint the prisoner had no 
right to select or even inquire as to the nature of 
the work to which he was to be assigned. It would 
be subversive of military discipline to permit him 
to appeal to the commandant or other officers of 
the camp. All reports would have to come 
through his guard. The only possible hope, there- 
fore, would be for an accidental inspection on the 
part of the Embassy. When such prisoners, how- 
ever, returned to camp, their report of unfavor- 
able conditions led to a resistant attitude on the 
part of the other prisoners to going to such camps. 
Members of the expeditionary force, soldiers bjr 



178 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY, 

profession, did not take kindly to any work that 
was not purely military. The volunteer soldier 
of Kitchener 's army was not only averse to work 
but rather favorably inclined to it, if conditions 
were good. 

While in many camps prisoners showed a sur- 
prisingly intimate knowledge with the provisions 
of The Hague Convention, there was, neverthe- 
less, a widespread impression that they could not 
be forced to work against their will. There was, 
of course, no ground for such a belief. It was also 
a widespread impression, even conviction, that the, 
British Government did not desire them to work 
on the grounds that the results of their work 
would be of benefit to the enemy. The only 
possible basis for this was the statement published 
in the White Papers (No. 11, 1915), in reply to a 
request from several British soldiers interned at 
Doberitz as to whether they might volunteer to 
work on farms; Sir Edward Grey replied that 
"his Majesty's Government did not wish them to 
work in the manner referred to." This naturally 
refers to the matter of volunteering for work and 
not of being ordered to work. It was, however, 
widely transmitted amongst the prisoners and was 
either understood or at least taken as an indica- 
tion of the Home Government. It was further 
elaborated into an attitude of refusal to do any 
work that would aid the enemy 's army. The pris- 
oner repeatedly refused to work directly on muni- 
tions, and while this was sometimes met with pun- 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 179 

ishment, the attitude of the prisoner of war was 
usually respected and he was transferred to other 
work. It was a matter of much contention as to 
what were military operations. That the canning 
of foods could not be so included is evident; the 
inspection, however, took the position that work- 
ing in Zeppelin-sheds should be so included. 

A complaint of a working camp at Alhorn for 
the construction of a Zeppelin shed was made by 

Corporal R •, Gordon Highlanders, Corporal 

W , E. 0. R., Private F , Gordon High- 
landers, Private F , Middlesex Regiment, Pri- 
vate M , Munster Fusiliers, Private E , A. 

0. 0., who were in prison barracks at the time of 
inspection. They had been assigned to work on 
a Zeppelin hangar, in process of construction. 
They refused to work on the grounds that it was 
a military operation according to The Hague Con- 
vention, and they demanded that they be permit- 
ted to see the commandant of the parent camp at 
Celle in order to file a protest. They were re- 
turned to this camp, tried and sentenced to twelve 
months ' imprisonment. The case was retried and 
on a second appeal it was taken to the higher court 
in Berlin, where a new trial at Hanover was or- 
dered for July 4. A sentence of twelve months 
was again imposed, another appeal was filed, and 
all the men are in the prison barracks at this camp 
until the case is finally settled. 

The only possible attitude that the Embassy 
could take in such matters was that inasmuch as 



180 .THE PRISONER OE [WAR IN GERMANY 

the prisoner of war was still a soldier and a part 
of the military problem he was to take orders with- 
out question, but that he was not expected to work 
on military operations or on munitions. If condi- 
tions were unjust he had the right to communicate 
with the Embassy, who would then take up the 
matter and see that justice was done. This nat- 
urally assumed the right of free communication 
with the Embassy, which as stated before, did not 
obtain and for which principle we were contend- 
ing. Assuming a routine inspection of the camps, 
it was still good advice to give to the prisoner of 
war as repeated inspection revealed untoward con- 
ditions or unjust employment and also by telling 
whether the right of communication with the Em- 
bassy would be respected. 

The noncommissioned officers when in charge of 
men always took a sane and sensible view of the 
situation and did all in their power to prevent the 
men from quitting work arbitrarily. The resist- 
ant fighting attitude of the British prisoner at 
times led him to refuse to work on insufficient 
grounds and sometimes a single prisoner would 
disturb the entire morale of an entire working 
camp by such an attitude, to which was added 
senseless faultfinding and refusal to take orders 
from his own noncommissioned officer. Even 
when requests were made to have such men re- 
moved to the parent camp, this was always re- 
fused until some disturbance occurred which 
brought hardship and punishment not only on the 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 181 

offender, but on other members of the working 
camp as well. The unfortunate result not only 
here but in parent camps of adventuresome indi- 
viduals who were courting trouble was that he not 
only got what he was looking for, but included 
other innocent individuals in the ceremony. 

When a prisoner assigned to a working camp 
definitely refused to work, he was punished in one 
way or another. We have already seen that at 
Scheidenmuhl the guard took upon himself the 
right to inflict punishment. The usual rule, how- 
ever, was to return the prisoner to the parent 
camp with the report from the guard of the work- 
ing camp. The action taken by the commandant 
varied in the different camps. As a rule the pris- 
oner was tried by court martial and if found guilty 
was sentenced to various terms of imprisonment 
in a military jail. When a number of prisoners 
refused to work a charge of conspiracy was lodged 
against them. Not infrequently such trouble de- 
veloped in working camps and in such circum- 
stances the prosecution demanded long terms of 
imprisonment which might vary from five to 
twenty years. In some cases capital punishment 
was demanded, but as far as any one in the Em- 
bassy knew this was never carried into effect. 

In other camps the commandant took a much 
milder action in cases of refusal to work; this 
might mean in some cases confinement to barracks, 
deprivation of certain camp liberties and privi- 
leges and moral suasion. In practically all the 



182 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

camps punishment barracks were instituted. 
Punishment barracks, as differentiated from the 
camp jail, was an isolated barrack without bunks 
or bedding or sanitary arrangements in which the 
prisoner was placed and to which he was confined 
for periods of time varying from one month or 
longer. In some of the camps he was not permit- 
ted blankets and was compelled to sleep on the 
bare floor in his clothes. He was, as a rule, not 
permitted to have his food packages from home 
and while in the punishment barracks was com- 
pelled to live on the camp food. The barrack was 
guarded by one or two sentries, with fixed bay- 
onets. The prisoner was taken outside of the bar- 
racks for one hour during the day for drill exer- 
cises. These punishment barracks were used for 
disciplinary punishment not only in connection 
with refusal to work, but for other infractions of 
discipline. Prisoners under arrest were also con- 
fined here, at times, awaiting trial. Usually, how- 
ever, such prisoners were confined in the camp 
jail. In some camps the commandant would con- 
fine men who would refuse to work in the camp 
jail. Here the confinement was solitary, in small 
cells four by seven feet with a slant flue which 
gave ventilation but practically no light ; the pris- 
oner was compelled to sleep upon bare boards, 
although in some of the camps mattresses were 
provided. He was, as a rule, without blankets 
and without food packages. He was exercised in 
the compounds surrounding the jail from one half 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 183 

to one hour during the day by the guard. The 
diet in the jail was bread and water for three days 
with the camp ration on the fourth day, followed 
by a second period of three days with the bread 
and water diet. After imprisonment in the jail 
for one or two weeks the prisoner would be re- 
turned to the working camp and if he still refused 
to work he was returned to the jail for a longer 
period of time, or was court martialed. When 
such court martials were held the evidence against 
the prisoner was supplied by the guard and his 
civilian employer. 

The civilian employer was frequently himself a 
problem to the inspection. He not only would 
come in conflict with the prisoners directly, creat- 
ing trouble by the bullying and nagging attitude, 
but often interfered with the guard in his control 
of the men. In one of these cases in the Witten- 
berg district the employers of prison labor had 
banded together and appointed one man in charge 
of the prisoners and their work. In his efforts to 
be efficient he created much resentment and ill 
feeling on the part of the prisoners. He gave the 
order to the guard to punish the prisoners by 
whipping them and abusing with their weapons 
and went so far as to refuse inspection and free 
communication with the prisoner at a time before 
the rules of limiting the inspection were in force. 
The guards of the prison camp, who were disposed 
to right action, were often interfered with and 
forced into uncomfortable situations by these men, 



u 



184 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

The guard of the working camp might be a sin- 
gle soldier or this might be increased to ten or fif- 
teen. When the guard consisted of several men, a 
noncommissioned officer was placed in charge. 
The guards in the smaller camps were usually 
members of the Landstrum. They were men be- 
yond the age of active service withdrawn from 
their usual work for this duty. They were as a 
rule kind and considerate and disposed to make 
the prisoner comfortable unless interfered with 
from outside sources. They had, however, a 
strict sense of duty and of discipline and were dis- 
posed to obey the regulations against intercourse 
with the prisoners except in relation to the busi- 
ness at hand. 

In the larger camps the guard was composed of 
younger men in active service and assigned to this 
duty for various physical reasons, such as slight 
wounds, lowered vitality, etc. In the larger camps 
a harsher and less sympathetic attitude was the 
rule. Where the housing and general sanitary 
conditions were unfavorable, the relations be- 
tween the guard and the men were usually 
strained and at the breaking point. This was due 
quite as much to the prisoner of war as to the 
guard. The bad hygienic surroundings and the 
bad food, the constant drive of work, the lack of 
recreation, brutalized the men to such a degree 
that they were difficult to deal with and hard to 
manage. Too much liberty was unquestionably 
given to the guard in handling such situations. 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 185 

In one of the working camps an order for the 
guard was found posted in the guard barracks to 
the effect that a " Notice is hereby given that on 
refusal to work the guard is directed, in the future, 
if occasion arises, to make use of their bayon- 
ets." It is presumed that this same order was 
posted at the other working camps in this army 
corps. With an irascible hot tempered guard in 
charge of prisoners whose nervous system is un- 
der serious stress the possibilities for serious 
trouble could easily arise from the liberty of ac- 
tion implied in this action. It was as a result of 
such a conflict that in the investigation the guard 
showed us the above order as justification for his 
action. In this same army corps was posted in 
working camps a printed notice quoting The 
Hague Convention in reference to work and add- 
ing thereto a statement that in one of the working 
camps three Eussians were shot by the guard as 
a result of trouble arising from their refusal to 
work. "While the commandants at the prison 
camps denied the right of the guard to use his 
weapon, the order, issued and quoted above for 
the use of the guard and not to be read by the pris- 
oner, was his justification and defense for any 
action that the guard might take. 

In all this matter a most complex problem was 
the fixing of responsibility for the life and health 
and the care of the prisoner of war. According J 
to The Hague Convention, the Central Govern- 
ment was responsible for all these matters. With 



186 THE PRISONER OF. .WAR IN GERMANY 

division of authority, the Provincial governments' 
could deny responsibility if it were shifted to them. 
The army corps command was, however, in the 
direct line of responsibility and in command of the 
guard in the working camp. While the comman- 
dant was held to account and an explanation de- 
manded for occurrences in the working camps, he 
almost invariably was without information, and 
inasmuch as matters could not be investigated on 
the spot the most that could be done was to prom- 
ise an investigation. Unless a follow-up visit was 
made to such camps nothing further was heard of 
such complaints. In serious matters, such as the 
killing of the Irish prisoners at Limburg, the Cen- 
tral Government referred the matter to the army 
corps and the army corps blocked any further in- 
vestigation by its own court martial, the report of 
which could be delayed as long as was convenient 
for the army corps command. 

Mention has already been made of the noncom- 
missioned officer in reference to work. While the 
noncommissioned officer was not excepted from 
work in The Hague Convention the government 
authorities included him in this exemption because 
he was not expected to work in the British camps. 
At first in the larger working camps a noncom- 
missioned officer was assigned in a supervisory 
capacity. Later in some working camps this was 
extended so that he became in one sense of the 
term a military foreman. As the need for men 
in the German industries grew, an effort was made 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 187 

to induce these men to volunteer for work. While 
quite a few did volunteer, a large number de- 
clined. By this time the noncommissioned offi- 
cer looked upon his exemption from work as a 
definite right and not as courtesy extended. 
Whether the German Government wished these 
men to work on account of the need of men or be- 
cause the feeding, housing, and guarding problem 
was simplified by depopulating the prison camps 
and sending them to working camps, they were un- 
willing to violate the principle of exemption of the 
noncommissioned officer from work. This led 
them to employ various means of pressure of 
forcing them to volunteer for work which did not 
differ in form or method from the punishment of 
the enlisted man who refused to work. In some 
of the camps their liberties were restricted; they 
were refused permission to attend the camp thea- 
ter, take part in any athletic sports and were com- 
pelled to go through long drills in wooden sabots. 
The excuse for this in the Minden camp was, "in 
order to teach these British noncommissioned offi- 
cers military form, how to salute and respect their 
superior officers." The unconscious humor of 
this was lost quite as much on the German mili- 
tary authorities as it was upon the warrant and 
noncommissioned officers of the British army. 
Even the confinement in the camp at Minden did 
not force these under officers from their position. 
Had the German authorities honestly abrogated 
their tacit agreement and issued an order that all 



188 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

noncommissioned officers would be compelled to 
work, little difficulty would have been encountered 
with men who were the flower of the enlisted force, 
good soldiers, accustomed to receiving military 
orders and obeying them implicitly. "When as- 
signed to command duty in the prison camps they 
did their duty faithfully and worked both for the 
good of their men and of the camp. They would 
have done equally good work in the working camps 
had a proper and honest spirit been exhibited. In 
a few camps the noncommissioned officer came in 
conflict with the German authorities for refusing. 
to order the men to working camps when the Ger- 
man noncommissioned officer had failed. In some 
camps this was distinctly the fault of the noncom- 
missioned officer, but in most cases it was due to 
the fact that the German camp authorities had 
not previously delegated any authority to the 
British noncommissioned officer over his men and 
when the time came for asking him to enforce such 
authority the men did not willingly respond. 

The sergeant major, the sergeant and the cor- 
poral were included in the groups theoretically ex- 
empted from work. The lance corporal was not 
so included. In the working camps the lance cor- 
poral was frequently found at work and appeals 
to be removed to the parent camps were not con- 
sidered. This was frequently true also of the cor- 
poral. Upon direct request of the inspection, ser- 
geants were usually exempted from work when 
found in working camps. The competent and effi- 



THE INSPECTION OF WORKING CAMPS 189 

cient noncommissioned officer working day in and 
out for the good of his men in parent camps and 
in working camps was one of the best factors for 
good in the whole prisoner of war situation. 
Good noncommissioned officers with unsympa- 
thetic commandants made conditions distinctly 
more bearable and livable than they otherwise 
would have been. 

On the whole the effect of work on the prisoner 
of war was for good. Conditions for the great 
majority of prisoners were reasonably good, 
and the prisoner both mentally, morally and 
physically better for having some purposive work 
to do. Evils that grew out of the peonage sys- 
tem would have been corrected in time by the 
routine frequently repeated inspection, by neutral 
embassies, and the desire on the part of the 
military authorities to be relieved of the criti- 
cism and the trouble which protests from these 
sources would involve. The eventual realization, 
as above stated, that as an economic proposition 
well-fed and well-treated prisoners gave better 
working returns naturally tends in the same direc- 
tion. The serious problem of mental depression 
and one of its most important underlying causes, 
i.e., the uncertainty of the time of imprisonment, 
was very markedly relieved by congenial occupa- 
tion. If the work for the prisoner of war could 
be confined to work on the farms, this would have 
solved all the difficulties and all the problems of 
the prisoner of war. This was fully realized by 



190 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

the prisoners in the camp at Minden. Some 
twenty-five Servian noncommissioned officers who 
had resisted all efforts on the part of the German 
authorities to induce them to volunteer for work, 
promptly agreed to work on farms if this type of 
work could be assured to them. The military au- 
thorities promptly agreed to this proposition 
when I presented it to them and the matter was 
then and there settled. 



CHAPTER XII 

CAMPS FOR OFFICERS 

UP to August 1, 1916, there were 16,569 officer 
prisoners of war. They were distributed in 
forty six camps. It may be stated in a general 
way that the German Government has met this 
problem in a complete and satisfactory manner. 
.With one or two exceptions all of these camps are 
now satisfactory and, considering conditions, no 
reasonable complaint can be found. Fortresses, 
sanatoria, newly constructed high-school build- 
ings, hotels, modern barrack buildings and va- 
cated factory buildings have all been utilized for 
officers' quarters. 

I All these buildings, with the exception of the 
camp at Magdeburg and Ingaldstadt, were unob- 
jectionable from a hygienic standpoint. In all the 
other camps inspected, with the exception of these 
two, the buildings were rather modern. The 
older buildings, such as those at Villingen or the 
forts at Torgau, were remodeled and changes ef- 
fected to make them comfortable and satisfactory. 
The officers' camp at Ingaldstadt is located in a 
ring of forts surrounding the town. These forts 
are built of brick. The officers were housed in the 
casemates j their quarters were poorly lighted and 

191 



/ 



192 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

damp and had a gloomy, cheerless, depressing at- 
mosphere. During the summer months these con- 
ditions are not so objectionable. During the long 
winter months they are unsuitable for housing 
officers. 

The camp at Magdeburg was located in a va- 
cated warehouse in the city of Magdeburg. The 
large rooms in which officers were housed were not 
any better than the barracks for enlisted men. 
The officers, many of them older men, were housed 
in the large factory rooms, as a barrack room, 
without any semblance of privacy. These long 
rooms could not be made to appear clean, and the 
whole building presented a sordid, unkempt ap- 
pearance. There was insufficient light and ven- 
tilation, the sanitary conditions were bad, the loca- 
tion of the building and the arrangement of the 
water supply did not permit of modern plumbing 
or a flushing system of sewerage. Space for ex- 
ercise was very limited. The officers looked upon 
this camp as a punishment camp. They were sent 
here for a complaining attitude in other camps, a 
lack of cooperation with the commandant, or for 
insubordination. 

All the other camps were located in hygienic 
surroundings and were so constructed or altered 
that the officers were housed in small rooms. Suf- 
ficient space was set aside in practically all the 
camps for field sports and recreation. As a rule, 
even in the camps filled to capacity, ten to twelve 
officers were the greatest number assigned to a 



, CAMPS FOR OFFICERS 193 

room and even if a greater number was sometimes 
housed together at Torgau, partitions were 
erected by the officers to secure privacy. The 
senior officers with the rank of colonel and general 
were usually given two rooms and a prisoner of 
war orderly was detailed for their service. The 
rooms were furnished simply and as a rule with 
sufficient furniture to make them comfortable; 
iron cots with springs or mattresses filled either 
with straw or sea grass; bed linen, pillows, blan- 
kets, etc., and a locker or wardrobe were supplied. 

Bathing facilities in the form of both showers 
and tubs with hot and cold water sufficient for the 
needs of the officers was supplied in all the camps. 
Hot water was supplied in a good many of the 
camps at certain hours of the day and sometimes 
only certain days of the week. In many of the of- 
ficers ' camps bathing was obligatory and a list 
was kept in order that this rule should be obeyed. 
Arrangements were made either in the camp or in 
a near-by barrack for sterilization of clothing 
when this was considered necessary. 

The arrangement for food was placed in the 
hands of a committee composed of officers. A 
French, a British and a Eussian officer were on 
this committee. They arranged their own menus 
and the food was purchased by a German pur- 
chasing agent who endeavored to secure the nec- 
essary food requested by this committee within 
the limits of the markets and the food regulations. 
The food was cooked by German cooks (male or 



; 



194 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY ) 

female) or by French prisoners of war. The food 
was served in dining-rooms which were as a rule 
comfortable and cheerful. Enlisted prisoners of 
war acting as orderlies served in the dining-room. 
The officers paid for their own food, the cost av- 
eraging one and a half marks per day. In some of 
the camps all officers were obliged to pay for the 
midday meal at the cost of thirty-two marks per 
month ; they might share in the other two meals or 
use their food packages as they preferred. The 
facilities for cooking the food from the food pack- 
ages was furnished in the kitchens, if it did nok 
interfere with the preparation of the camp food. 
This same committee had charge of the canteens 
where toilet articles, cigars, cigarettes, writing 
materials, beer and light wines might be pur- 
chased. The profits from the canteen were de- 
voted to camp expenses, such as making of tennis 
courts, etc., cinematograph exhibitions, orchestra, 
theatricals, etc. 

An officer who was taken prisoner of war might 
therefore find himself in a modern well-equipped 
hotel, in a sanatarium building, an officer barrack, 
or the more romantic, if less comfortable atmos- 
phere, of a German fortress guarding a strategic 
point along the inland waterways of Germany. If 
he were interned at the fort at Torgau he would 
find himself assigned to quarters with other offi- 
cers in the main fortress building in one of the 
small rooms along the galleries. He would be 
welcomed by his brother officers, not for himself 



CAMPS FOR OFFICERS 195 

so much as for what news he might bring from the 
outside world or a change of personality from 
those who were already wearing on each other. 

In the early months of the war the transporta- 
tion of officers from the front was often disagree- 
able in the extreme. The experience of Major 
V was not unique. Many officers made com- 
plaint of a similar nature. Probably the worst 
experience of most of the officers was in being 
made a prisoner. As a rule they would have pre- 
fered almost any other fate. To be taken a pris- 
oner, to be removed from the conflict, to be at the 
mercy of their enemies for an indefinite period of 
time, it was indeed for them, as they approached 
the forbidding aspect of some fortress, an 
"abandonment of hope." Where the gates had 
no such legend inscribed thereon, it needed none 
such for the weary, battle-stained, travel-worn pil- 
grim in the khaki uniform. 

The grim exterior of the fortress was indeed the 
worst feature about it. After the guard had sa- 
luted and the gates had clanged after him the pic- 
ture was very different from anything he had an- 
ticipated. 

Looking out from his gallery chamber a strange 
and unique picture greeted him. French, and 
Belgian, and Eussian, and British officers prom- 
enading across the large quadrangle in the bright 
sunshine gave a glow of color such as only the 
highly colored uniforms of the different military 
ranks can give to such a picture. A tennis tour- 



\ 



196 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

nament is on at the courts and French and English, 
arrayed in flannels, perhaps, are vying for the 
mastery with a distinguished and numerous gal- 
lery excited and applauding and as interested evi- 
dently as if they were at a similar function at 
home. Some field sports are on in another por- 
tion of the field, or it may be that football or even 
cricket may be on for that particular day. 

He would find the atmosphere of the camp rela- 
tively cheerful as compared with the enlisted 
men's camp. The older officers in the meantime 
are engaged in some studious occupation, and the 
more serious minded of the younger officers in lan- 
guage classes or classes for mental occupation and 
education ; the younger officers not engaged in ath- 
letics for the most part lounging in their rooms not 
unlike men in college dormitories. 

He would find that in two or three days in the 
week, groups of officers (50 or 60) each officer in 
his turn would be permitted to take a tramp in the 
surrounding country accompanied by one of the 
German officers. Some eight or ten different 
trips had been arranged, each one of which afford- 
ed some new interest and relieved the monotony of 
the same walk. 

The time arranged for the officers' walk was 
usually in the afternoon. No complaint was made 
as to the attitude of the German population. The 
officer assigned, however, to accompany the in- 
terned officers was ostensibly to prevent any hos- 
tile manifestations, and not as a guard ; at least 



CAMPS FOR OFFICERS 197 

this was the explanation given. These walks 
were taken in the country and not in congested 
districts. This is in contrast with the opportun- 
ity for the officers in one of the officer's camps in 
England, where the German officers could only be 
permitted to take walks in the very early morning 
on account of the hostile attitude of the British 
population. 

The midday meal at Torgau was prepared by 
French cooks under the direction of an officer, a 
captain in the French service. While not sump- 
tuous meals, they were, nevertheless, not objec- 
tionable and might be better than the field food to 
which he had been accustomed at the front. 
While the meals from day to day might lack va- 
riety, if he would quarrel with their preparation 
he must quarrel with a cook or chef of his own 
selection. 

When taps are sounded and he has " turned in," 
the officer of the day makes his inspection in order 
to see that the prisoners are all in bed and ac- 
counted for. He is allowed to sleep later in the 
morning than the enlisted men ; he faces a roll call 
at 8 a. m., after which he has breakfast at 8.15 and 
then is free for the rest of the day until evening 
roll call at 9.30 p. m. for study, for some outdoor 
sport, for theatricals or to sit and brood or plan 
an escape. 

All officers plan an escape. In order to avoid 
this the German authorities require officers per- 
mitted to take walks in the surrounding country to 



198 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

be photographed, and to give their parole. At 
first the British officers refused to do this, but on 
the assurance that there was no reflection on their 
honor as officers, it was later agreed to. 

With such treatment and such liberty there 
should be, one would think, little complaint, as in- 
deed there was but little. Some of the officers, 
however, requested that they be given the liberty 
of the towns on parole as in previous wars. "With 
the intense feeling aroused by the present war it 
would take but little to start serious trouble if 
such requests were granted. An officer prisoner 
is permitted to write one letter and one post card 
per week and to receive all the communications 
addressed to him; both incoming and outgoing 
mail are strictly censored; this is true also of the 
food packages and books received from the home 
country. Newspapers in English are not permit- 
ted and the same complaint as to this and the lack 
of news was registered in the officers ' camps both 
in Germany and in England. German papers are 
permitted. An irascible German officer in a 
prison camp in England demanded that he should 
be permitted the German papers in order that 
"he might keep in touch with the spiritual life 
of the Fatherland. ' ' The British officer was more 
practical and wanted to keep in touch with a thin 
khaki-colored line in Northern France. In all the 
camps for officers a sufficient number of enlisted 
men of their own nationality are assigned as or- 
derlies to care for their rooms, to serve their 



CAMPS FOR OFFICERS 199 

food, etc. This number varied in the different 
camps. 

As in the camps for enlisted men, the atmos- 
phere of the camp was largely determined by the 
commandant and his staff. Commandants of the 
officers' camps are usually officers of middle age, 
placed on this duty from the reserve or retired 
lists. They are assisted by a staff of commis- 
sioned and noncommissioned officers. There is a 
guard of usually one tenth the number of officers ; 
this guard is as a rule quartered outside of the 
camp, but is sometimes found quartered within 
the confines of the camp. In most of the camps 
the commandant was found to be in sympathetic 
touch with the interned officers. The interned of- 
ficers were divided into companies and battalions. 
Companies are subdivided into squads, the squad 
leaders being the senior officers interned, the 
higher ranks excepted. Squads are always in 
charge of officers of the same nationality. The 
officers of highest rank of the various nationalities 
interned are responsible for the conduct and dis- 
cipline of the officers under them and act as their 
spokesman in all communications, requests and 
protests to the commandant of the camp. 

Officers are well supplied with money ; they are 
paid by the German authorities or receive money 
from home. Officers junior to the rank of cap- 
tain are paid at the rate of sixty marks per month, 
from captain up to and including colonels the pay 
is as high as one hundred marks per month. 



vT 



200 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

Money orders received from England through 
Holland are exchanged in the camps at the rate of 
20.42 marks to the pound sterling. Much com- 
plaint was made at this rate of exchange. Actual 
German or foreign currency is not permitted in 
the camp ; either camp money or a checking system 
is used. The officer must pay for his food, his 
clothes, his laundry and for necessary repairs. 
He is compelled to wear his uniform at all times 
except when he is participating in sports, when the 
usual flannels are permitted. The attitude of the 
German officers was as a rule more sympathetic 
toward the British officer than otherwise. He was 
always a gentleman, respected regulations and in- 
sisted on the respect due him as an officer. His 
fondness for out-of-door sports kept him in good 
physical condition, relieved the monotony and te- 
dium of the endless waiting and kept him in a much 
better mental condition than the French or Ger- 
man officers. The Eussian officer was unpopular 
for many reasons. His frequent attempts at es- 
cape brought him in conflict with the camp authori- 
ties. While the other officers often made attempts 
to escape, they were not so persistent as the Rus- 
sians. The British officers are least addicted to 
this habit. 

This was quite unnecessary, as attempts at es- 
cape were not made during these walks. Usually 
the idea of escape was a natural reaction of the 
mind of an adventuresome individual to confine- 
ment. It might almost be said to be at times a 



CAMPS FOR OFFICERS 201 

mass reaction. When human beings are confined, 
the first idea is the possibility of escape from the 
cage. The camps are so well guarded that at- 
tempts through the barbed wire were usually 
doomed to failure. Bribing of the guard was a 
possibility, but it was rarely tried. The next 
mental reaction to confinement was to burrow. In 
the sand country where tunneling was not diffi- 
cult, it was frequently tried. In one of the camps 
it became epidemic and gave the authorities more 
concern than other and more serious disease epi- 
demics. The whole camp was tunneled, the tun- 
nels not infrequently ran into each other. The 
German guards would let the prisoners amuse 
themselves and then " detect " them at the proper 
moment and gain much credit thereby from the 
commandant. The day of my visit to this camp, 
one of the officers, evidently an engineer, sur- 
prised them by his speed and escaped. The 
guard was so confounded that he raised a general 
alarm ; the commandant called the guards to emer- 
gency stations and turned the machine guns on the 
camp. The action of the German officers in their 
excitement precipitated a riot amongst the excited 
prisoners, and serious consequences were only 
narrowly averted. The guard was too small for 
the six hundred officers. If, as one of the men 
stated, a shot had been fired the excited prisoners 
would have killed the guard with chairs or their 
bare hands, and "we would have all been lined up 
and shot." This officer begged me to have the 



202 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY, 

guard increased to save the men from their own 
folly and that of the commandant, should such an 
occurrence be repeated, which we thought likely. 

This camp was filled with adventuresome spir- 
its who refused to be confined and who made the 
life of the commandant miserable. 

The tunnel was usually started from the floor of 
a barrack. This gave privacy and a place to store 
the excavated material. In the camp above re- 
ferred to some of the tunnels were so long and the 
heat so intense that an apparatus was rigged up 
to pump air into the tunnel. 

At one camp for officers, located in a recently 
erected sanatarium, an officer who had assisted as 
a consulting engineer in the planning of the insti- 
tution, and after returning to his country, enlisted 
and was taken prisoner, had evidently all the 
plans of pipes, etc., in his mind. All the tunnels 
planned followed the water, gas or sewerage di- 
rections to freedom. 

When a tunnel was discovered the officer was 
permitted to work up to the point of danger; he 
was usually met with a smile by the guard as he 
returned from his burrow. In the camp at Guter- 
sloh the smile was not used to any great extent. 
"When, therefore, three innocent looking Russian 
officers emerged from their nocturnal retreat the 
guard, using his musket as a bludgeon, beat them 
successively and successfully over the head as 
each one emerged from the tunnel, into a condi- 
tion of insensibility. The condition of all three 



CAMPS FOE OFFICERS 203 

was serious when I visited the camp a few days 
later. We must assume that such an act, not con- 
demned by the commandant, must have met with 
his approval. Such occurrences were, however, 
rare. As a rule attempts at escape were treated 
with surprising leniency. 

The punishment for attempting to escape varies 
in the different army corps. In most of the army 
corps it is relatively slight ; a period of two weeks 
of solitary confinement with a withdrawal of cer- 
tain camp privileges for a given period of time. 
In the fourth army corps (Magdeburg) punish- 
ment is more severe and longer, ranging from 
three months to a year. In one instance where 
the latter punishment was inflicted the accusation 
was made that some of the furniture had been 
broken in the attempt to escape. For serious of- 
fences court martials were ordered. These may 
be ordered from the army headquarters or from 
the war ministry. 

The same rule was made in regard to mixing 
nationalities in the camps for officers as in those 
of enlisted men. While in some of the camps of- 
ficers of different nationalities were quartered to- 
gether in the same rooms, as a rule the British 
officers were housed separately. This was true 
also of the French and Russian officers. 

Wounded officers were transported in hospital 
trains and were treated either in the general hos- 
pitals assigned for the treatment of wounded 
prisoners or in smaller general hospitals. They 



204 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

were assigned in groups to wards or rooms by 
themselves; in some instances wounded German 
officers were quartered with them. They were 
given the same care and treatment as the German 
officers. A wounded officer was sometimes found 
in the infirmary attached to the officers' camp. 

In meeting the problem of the officer prisoner of 
war, considering many difficulties in the way, but 
few complaints can be found and in a general way 
the whole system deserves praise. If the same 
spirit had been shown towards the problem of the 
enlisted men and civilians interned there would 
be much less ground for complaint than is here 
recorded. With the exception of Magdeburg, a 
punishment camp, the forts at Ingaldstadt, and the 
camp at Wurtsburg, during the first year of the 
war all the other camps were more than satisfac- 
tory. 



CHAPTEE XIII 

CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 

APPROXIMATELY 45,000 civilians were in- 
terned in Germany shortly after the out- 
break of the war. Of these, 4,000 were interned in 
one camp at Ruhleben in the suburbs of Berlin. 
Eventually practically all the interned civilians in 
Germany were interned at this camp; a few re- 
mained in the parent camps by preference. 
Thirty were interned at the castle Schloss Celle 
and a few women from time to time in the camp 
at Holzminden. The concentration of practically 
all the British in one camp near Berlin made the 
problem of inspection and control relatively easy. 
Some truth and not a little poetry has been written 
about this camp. Within a relatively short time 
after the declaration of war, all British males 
found in Germany and all those later taken prison- 
ers on ships were interned here. 

It may or may not have been intentional — the 
refined cruelty of a practical joke — that all these 
British, so fond on their native heath of horse rac- 
ing, should be interned on a race track which, 
from that moment on, never saw a horse. The 
buildings natural to a race course, the grand 
stand, the stables, tribune, the casino, were all 

205 



206 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY, 

used for housing or ministering to the wants of 
the prisoner. The housing was difficult and the 
wants were many; the housing problem at first 
difficult was later partially solved by the erection 
of additional barracks built of wood and covered 
with tar-paper. Previous to this men were 
housed and indeed are still housed in the stalls 
used for horses. 

It was a different crowd to which this race 
course was accustomed in the heyday of its glory 
who assembled there in August of 1914. Men 
from all walks of life and all climes, men of all 
professions, after days of hardship and uncer- 
tainty were here assembled for the "two or three 
months" that the war was to last. The British 
tourist from some German cure or summer resort, 
the music student or teacher from Munich or Ber- 
lin; the successful business man, banker, broker, 
merchant, professional men, all slept in the same 
horse stalls, marched in barrack line to the same 
kitchen for food in company with some two hun- 
dred and fifty negroes from the China coast, the 
Strait Settlements or South Africa, with sailors 
and fishermen from Grunsby, stokers from some 
tramp merchantman and, mirable dictu, several 
hundred British Germans, most of whom could not 
speak a word of English. From time to time was 
added to this motley and mixed aggregation of hu- 
man beings the haul of the Mo ewe, and other raid- 
ers. Cabin boys, callow youth, men of forty, and 
old feeble men tottering to the grave, came and 







H 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 207 

went and wondered how long the war would last 
or how soon the always prospective exchange of 
civilians would take place. As one walks through 
the camp at Euhleben today there is not the de- 
pression of the prison camp but the rather strained 
atmosphere of some 5,000 men trying to escape a 
melting pot which could make of this motley ag- 
gregation of various castes simple Englishmen. 

Youth in its elasticity dons its flannels and sal- 
lies forth to play golf or tennis in much the same 
fashion it would at home. The man of forty, 
moulded to form, feels the abolition of the cast 
system. The lower working classes find it quite 
as difficult to adjust itself to the abnormal condi- 
tions of living under such mixed surroundings as 
does the better class in its effort to drop to an 
easy attitude without too much strain and tension. 
The unconscious class, that group to which intern- 
ment made little difference in its restriction and 
its uncertainty, was the negro. He did not have 
to work today, had no care for the morrow, had 
sufficient to eat and a mandolin or a banjo and a 
voice that might be good or bad to wile away the 
weary hours. 

The most self-conscious class, the group to 
which a just confinement seemed most unjust and 
hard to bear, was the pro-German group. These 
men, for the most part born in Germany, sons of 
a British parent or parents, reared to manhood 
in German surroundings, British only in name 
and to avoid military service, slandered and 



208 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

abused by their own people and outcasts among 
the British, were indeed an unhappy and a miser- 
able lot. The Duke of Baden taking pity on them 
gave a fund which might be used for supplying 
them with extra food and necessities from the can- 
teen. When practically all the British, with the 
exception of those who for reasons of principle 
would not accept them, were receiving food pack- 
ages from home to supplement the prison fare, 
pro-Germans were left without such assistance 
and this fund while it lasted was a veritable god- 
send to them. 

Much has been said in the previous pages of the 
military discipline of the prison camps and the 
labor in the working camps. When a study is 
made of the internment camps for civilians it is 
evident that a lack of military discipline, of mil- 
itary training, together with lack of occupation 
were the twin evils of these institutions. Out of 
this amorphous mass of human beings, herded in 
a narrow space, with nothing to do, it was natural 
that men of brain power, of training and high 
ideals, should look for some means to so organize 
the camp as to lessen the evils of confinement. 
To offer not only mental and physical relaxation 
but that mental occupation which would help to 
pass the time, prepare them for a better work, 
and keep the years of their confinement from be- 
ing wasted. Such men there were and they de- 
serve much credit for a camp organization which 
offered to the men self-government and oppor- 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 209 

tunities for education or better still the service of 
teaching others. While much has been written of 
the box-stalls for beds in the Kuhleben camps, with 
not a little criticism of the food and other things, 
I take it that there is no one in or out of Euhleben 
who has anything but good to say of the kindly 
sympathetic officer in charge of this camp, Graf 
Schwerin. He not only did everything possible 
under the circumstances to mitigate the lot of the 
interned but cooperated in every way in carrying 
out any suggestion from the men or their com- 
mittees which would make for their peace of mind 
or their comfort. 

The administration is under Graf Schwerin, as- 
sisted by Baron von Taube and a staff of com- 
missioned and noncommissioned officers. There 
is a guard of 150 men with quarters provided un- 
der the grand stand. These are shortly to be re- 
moved outside of the camp. The German guard 
in the camp is a source of irritation to the interned 
and a source of trouble to the commandant. 

At the present time the internal administration 
is largely in the hands of committees of the in- 
terned. The camp is well organized, both for dis- 
cipline and the physical and mental comfort of the 
interned. This has been a matter of slow develop- 
ment. At first there was a necessity for interpre- 
ters and naturally enough when it came to an 
organization of the camp, the interpreters acted 
as intermediaries between the men interned and 
the military authorities. One of these was ap- 



210 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY; 

pointed " Captain of the Camp," later lie was ex- 
changed and returned to England and the present 

captain, a Mr. P , was appointed. The camp 

is divided into barracks of about 200 men. Each 
barrack has it own captain at first appointed by 
the captain of the camp. Later new barrack cap- 
tains were elected. They are held responsible 
for the order and discipline of their individual 
barracks and lead the men when they march for 
food etc. (See Appendix.) 

Housing. The men are housed in barracks 
built of wood, one story in height, and arranged 
in a series of rooms on either side of a long cor- 
ridor, paved with cement. Each room will hold 
three or five men. The bedding is of straw, the 
bed places bunks built against the wall. The 
rooms are clean and well ventilated. Class dis- 
tinctions are not recognized, with the single ex- 
ception that the negroes are all housed together 
(250) in one large isolated barrack. 

These latter are orderly, clean, and it is said 
that this barrack was the only one in the camp 
which had not at any time been infected with 
vermin. Permission was given to have a classifi- 
cation of the interned made, inasmuch as this has 
been permitted in the camps in England, but Cap- 
tain P and others considered this inadvisable 

inasmuch as the present plan was working so 
well. 

Discipline. The camp is regulated by a force 
of British subjects. This consists of an inspector, 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 211 

four sergeants and fifty men. This force has no 
power to inflict punishment. It can only report 
to the captain who may use moral suasion ; if this 
does not suffice, the matter is taken up with the 
German military authorities. Punishments may 
be ordered for infractions of camp discipline and 
consists of three days of detention on a bread and 
water diet, two days of detention on a full diet 
and three days of bread and water diet. This may 
be extended for two weeks. Such discipline is 
usually inflicted for the abuse of alcohol. Eleven 
escapes have occurred from the camp, two of these 
have not been returned, the others were captured 
and are now in prison detention in Berlin. Ef- 
forts on the part of the Embassy and the captain 
to have these men returned to the camp have not 
been successful. The authorities evidently reason 
that if these runaways return they will spread the 
information as to methods of escape. 

The food supply is regulated by the German 
military authorities. At first the food supplies, 
cooking, etc., were in the hands of a contractor 
who was awarded the contract on the basis of 76 
pfennigs per diem. So much objection was made 
on the part of the interned to the small quantity of 
food and its poor quality that eventually the Ger- 
man authorities handed over the whole matter to 
the camp committees. Now this food is controlled 
by four inspectors (British) and the contract sys- 
tem has been abandoned. Complaints as to the 
quantity and quality of the food still exist. It 



212 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

appears that formerly practically the entire camp 
had to be supplied from the kitchens. There was 
often insufficient food for the entire camp and the 
late comers secured food of poor quality. This 
has been entirely eliminated due to the food sup- 
plies transmitted from England by parcels post to 
the camp. All kinds of food bread, canned meat, 
canned vegetables, etc., are sent in; in one month 
some 10,000 packages were received. As a result 
of these additions to the food supplies a large 
precentage of men do not march to the kitchens 
for their food. From one barrack of 250 men 
certainly not more than 100 reported for dinner 
the day we inspected the camp. The dinner this 
day consisted of fish well cooked, and potatoes of 
good grade and well cooked. Opportunity is 
given in an auxiliary kitchen for the interned to 
receive hot water at 2 francs per kilo and a range 
is provided where they may cook their own food 
received by parcels post. The bread supplied is 
the usual soldier's bread, heavy and hard and a 
bit soggy. This is not used when the interned 
can secure wheat bread from Switzerland or 
home. Fish and meat days are not observed as 
required for the German population but practi- 
cally to the same effect, i.e., in the camp certain 
barracks serve meat on certain days, other bar- 
racks on other days. Outside two days in the 
week are definitely designated as fish days. 

Complaint is made by the men that the German 
guard is supplied with a much more generous 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 213 

diet ; they are, however, on a war footing and de- 
tailed for heavy work, etc. 

For those who can pay a restaurant with table 
d'hote meals exists in the Casino. Here the con- 
valescent, ill, and those who work, if they have the 
money, may secure not only good food, but also 
beer, wine etc. Complaint was made that the 
prices are exorbitant; for wine, at .least twice that 
for which the same may be bought outside. The 
officers of the guard secure their food here so that 
the complaint is again made that they serve a five 
or six course meal for marks 1.50, thus having the 
Casino Eestaurant seem at a loss on the camp 
books. 

Exeecise. Compulsory exercise is not en- 
forced. A large area, one half of the racing en- 
closure, 200 x 150 yards, is used for football ; two 
fields may be occupied at the same time. Barrack 
teams have been organized and a regular schedule 
of games has been arranged. In this way a large 
number of men obtain exercise. A short golf 
course of five holes, and several tennis courts are 
available for those who play these games. For 
others the enclosure is sufficiently large to obtain 
exercise by walking about. 

Bathing. All interned, by barrack formation 
are expected to bathe once a week in a bathing 
building outside the enclosure where warm show- 
ers are used. Many of the men avail themselves 
of the opportunity of the more frequent use of the 
cold showers within the enclosure. These men 



214 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY. 

are not compelled to take the hot weekly bath if 
they do not desire to do so. 

Medical Attention. For those who are ill with 
slight ailments a temporary hospital within the 
enclosure is available. For more severe ailments 
a larger hospital outside the grounds is used. 
This was previously a railway station for emi- 
grants sailing for America. About fifty patients 
with rheumatism, pleurisy, pulmonary tubercu- 
losis, pneumonia, gall stones, neurasthenia and 
mild depression psychoses were here being 
treated. The medical staff consists of surgeons 
of the Sanitary Corps of the army, a captain and 
a lieutenant. Hospital orderly service and nurs- 
ing are done by the interned. 

Hygiene. The public latrines are of a military 
type and have to be pumped out. There is no 
privacy here. In order to overcome this, private 
latrines have been installed from the prisoners' 
funds which may be used on payment of a small 
fee. There is no other drainage at this camp. 

Amusements. In addition to the games above 
mentioned which afford an out-of-door interest not 
only to the players but to the majority of those in 
the camp, a theatre, seating 350, with all the nec- 
essary stage apparatus, lighting, etc., has been in- 
stalled in one of the buildings. Nightly perform- 
ances of farces, vaudeville and Shakespearean 
plays are here given. In addition to this a cin- 
ematograph is in operation with two perform- 
ances daily. For both of these, a fee is charged. 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 215 

Education". Educational facilities are availa- 
ble for those who care to take advantage of them. 
Some eight or ten rooms on the second story of 
one of the buildings are used for various classes. 
French, English, German, navigation, mathe- 
matics, biology, physics, and chemistry are taught. 
Crude laboratories have been installed with primi- 
tive apparatus for chemistry and physics; the 
biological laboratory is equipped with three mi- 
croscopes and simple improvised apparatus. 
Sufficient material for demonstration is easily 
found in the camp. The classes are well attended 
and the work and teaching receives serious atten- 
tion. In some of the subjects, navigation, for ex- 
ample, arrangements have been made with the 
school authorities in England, so that after ex- 
amination, this work counts as so many units in 
the course for a certificate. All a man's available 
time may be occupied with these courses. At the 
change of hours the hurrying of these grownups 
with note books in hand from the class buildings 
reminds one of the universities at home. 

Dentistky. A dental room has been established 
from the camp funds and with the help of the Em- 
bassy funds, for the care of the teeth ; Dr. Robert- 
son and Dr. Moore are in charge. Dr. Moore is a 
graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and 
was practicing in Munich when the war broke out. 
The dentists have quarters in the same dental lab- 
oratory building. The interned pay for the den- 
tal work when they can. All of the fees go to pay 



216 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

for the installation and upkeep of the depart- 
ment. 

In addition to the above the Y. M. C. A. has' 
erected a building with American funds. There 
is a large hall, with a stage at one end, which may 
be used as a reading, and working, and writing 
room when not used for religious services. The 
stage is fitted up with an altar for the English or 
Eussian churches, but may be used for any of the 
denominations. Prayer services are held here 
every morning and afternoon. There is in addi- 
tion to this a small Eoman Catholic chapel and a 
Jewish synagogue. A German Catholic priest re- 
sides voluntarily in the camp. He has about 200 
Catholics under his charge. 

There are two large rooms at the end of the 
building, one of which is used as a reference li- 
brary, equipped with about 2000 volumes sent 
from England. The other room is used as a com- 
mittee room and is well stored with religious 
books. In addition to this there is a circulating li- 
brary of 2500 volumes in the camp. 

Clubs. There are some ten or more clubs. 
These are composed of men who have built small 
rooms for themselves in the side of one of the 
buildings. They make good small living-rooms 
and are decorated according to the taste of the 
members. One large club was granted permission 
to organize, by the military authorities, without 
consultation with the camp committees. The lat- 
ter have no control over it and disapprove of this 



CAMPS FOE CIVILIANS INTERNED 217 

club and will have nothing to do with it. Before 
the organization of the smaller clnbs, a group of 
men had roped off a corner of the football field 
and called this their club ; and so the child in the 
man comes to the surface quickly under confine- 
ment and adverse circumstances. 

Jouenals. A daily and weekly are published in 
the camp. The daily journal is a mimeographed 
sheet giving the official communications from the 
different fronts and the dispatches from the daily 
newspapers. The weekly is a more pretentious 
booklet containing short stories, poems, etc., and 
the reports of the various athletic activities. 

The mail and package service are well taken 
care of. Both letters and mail packages are cen- 
sored by a German noncommissioned officer. A 
special department is devoted to the reception of 
packages. When it is considered that in one 
month 10,000 packages are received for 5000 men, 
it will easily be seen how important a matter for 
camp life this is. It appears to be well admin- 
istered. 

Permission has been granted to men who were 
engaged in active business before internment to 
write extra letters for the continuation of their 
business. 

Visitoks. Women visitors are not permitted. 
Men are permitted when possessed of the proper 
permission. The interned are not permitted to 
visit their families in Berlin or elsewhere in Ger- 
many except in the event of serious illness, which, 



218 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

the interned say, must be so serious that the rela- 
tive is usually dead when they arrive. 

Woek. The interned are not compelled to work 
about the camp. If they are, however, willing to 
do it, they are paid for the service. Most of these 
men refuse on the ground that it will be of some 
aid to the Germans. 

Food conditions during the summer of 1916 was 
a matter of much discussion in the public prints in 
England and evidently much concern on the part 
of the general public. The technical food survey 
made by Dr. A. E. Taylor was exceptionally well 
done and a fine piece of scientific work. It re- 
vealed the fact that the quantity of the food was 
definitely below the amount actually needed by this 
large number of men. It was later admitted that 
the large amount of food being sent to the camp 
from England was taken into consideration in the 
supply sent to the kitchen. There was no evi- 
dence at the time, so far as the general appearance 
of the men was concerned, of any marked lack of 
nutrition. The pro-German group and those 
British who as a matter of principle refused to 
accept food (demanding as a right that the Ger- 
man authorities feed them and feed them prop- 
erly), were the only ones who suffered from the 
reduction of the food ration. It was stated that 
the camp authorities, realizing the impending and 
prospective food shortage, had accumulated a 
large fund from the reduction in the camp food so 
that at the high prices of the future they would 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 219 

still be able to supply the camp with sufficient nu- 
tritious food. While the food for the most part 
was unattractive on account of its method of prep- 
aration and while some of the food used, such as 
boiled sausage, that to which Englishmen were un- 
accustomed, it was on the whole nutritious and 
unobjectionable. The objection of some of the 
men, usually stokers, and men of the laboring 
class, to some of the food appeared to be unrea- 
sonable. The kitchen committee, who had con- 
trol of the preparation of the food, was composed 
of exceptional men. What these men had to put 
up with in scurrilous criticism from some of the 
lower orders in the camp as a return for unselfish 
devotion to their self-imposed task, I am afraid, 
will not be included in the tales of Euhleben. 

CAMP AT SCHOLOSS CELLA 

The camp at Scholoss Cella was intended for 
certain of the better classes, particularly officers 
on the reserve list or those too old for military 
duty. It is a large and attractive castle formally 
the property of the kings of Hanover. The build- 
ing is very old, the sanitation and bathing facil- 
ities deficient. While there is a large park around 
the castle the civilians interned were not permit- 
ted here on account of the difficulty of guarding 
them. The interned were well housed in bed- 
rooms containing from six to fourteen beds; the 
beds in some cases were arranged in bunk form 
in double tiers. Thirty British were here in- 



220 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

terned. Apart from the lack of space for exercise 
and games and the food, no complaints were made. 

THE CAMP AT HOLZMINDEN" 

The camp for civilians interned at Holzminden 
was beautifully situated in a rolling country. 
Five thousand civilians are interned in this camp, 
of whom 735 are women. It is a very large camp 
with 84 barracks all closely placed together and 
surrounded by the usual barbed-wire enclosure. 
Fourteen of these barracks were devoted to 
women and children. French, Russian, Belgian 
and Servian and a few English were found in- 
terned in this camp. "While this camp was built 
for the purpose of a concentration camp for civil- 
ians, it has, if anything, a more sordid appearance 
than the improvised camp at Euhleben. There ap- 
pears to be little excuse for the large number of 
prisoners confined in this limited space ; the coun- 
try all about is open and much more space could 
have been devoted to the barracks and for recrea- 
tion. In contradistinction to the Euhleben the 
guard is found everywhere within the camp. Mil- 
itary discipline is enforced. The administration 
is in the hands of the German authorities. The 
interned here are permitted to volunteer for work 
and are leased under contract at the usual rate of 
pay of German workmen. In wet weather the 
sordid appearance of the camp is markedly in- 
creased, due to the confinement of the interned in 
their barracks. This is particularly true of the 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 221 

women who are confined in a separate barbed-wire 
enclosure and only permitted the run of the camp 
at certain hours of the day when they mingle with 
the men to attend concerts, games, exhibitions, etc. 
My last visit of inspection to this camp was to look 
up the cases of five stewardesses from the Brus- 
sels, the ship commanded by Captain Fryat, who 
was executed about this time. I found the portion 
of the camp devoted to women overcrowded and 
not any too clean. These women complained that 
they had been, from the time of their capture on 
June 23, 1916, taken to Brhuge, then to Ghent, then 
to Cologne and finally to Holzminden, and during 
this trip they had lost practically all their personal 
effects. They were unable to eat the camp food 
and were subsisting entirely on the parcel food 
given them by the French and Belgian women of 
the camp. The barracks were 12 x 12 x 14 feet, 
with 6 double windows. The beds of their bar- 
racks were arranged in the form of double tier 
built-in bunks. Mattresses were bags filled with 
excelsior. They complained bitterly of the ver- 
min in these bunks. "While a German steward- 
ess was in charge of each barrack for women, a 
very disagreeable impression was made by the 
presence of German soldiers with fixed bayonets 
in these barracks. During the day privacy was 
out of the question. Some of the women were 
lying in their bunks and complained of being ill, 
but not sufficiently ill to go to a hospital. While 
some of the women were exceptionally well 



222 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

dressed, for the most part they were rather slov- 
enly in appearance, which added to the general 
sordid and disagreeable impression of this portion 
of the camp. On the day of this inspection it had 
been raining, and mud was everywhere. Whether 
due to the weather or not, there was a general 
atmosphere of depression and uncleanliness. 

What possible object could the Imperial German 
Government have in confining babes in arms, chil- 
dren, young women, middle aged women and old 
women tottering to the grave, in barracks in such 
a camp? They surely could not have been all 
spies or even suspicious characters. An agree- 
ment had been made to permit all British women 
to be returned to England if they so desired. 
Several British women were still in the camp, 
however, for one reason or another. The conten- 
tion of the German authorities was that these 
Women had violated police regulations in not re- 
turning to their homes at a certain definite fixed 
hour. The most that I can say of this, as only 
the cases of the British were investigated, is to 
quote the statements made by three or four of 
these women: 

Case of Miss S . Miss S had pre- 
viously refused to return to England. The Brit- 
ish Government declined to support her in Ger- 
many as a free civilian, and she has since been in- 
terned in Holzminden. Miss S confirmed the 

statement of the commandant that she refused to 
go to England, her refusal being based on the 




When will the war end?" This is the poignant expression 

everywhere 




Men, women and children languishing in a hostile land 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 223 

ground that she had never lived there and had 
neither friends nor family there. Her home is in 
Queenstown, Cape Colony, South Africa. She 
wished to return to her home. 

Case of Miss C . She had been in Holz- 

minden three weeks, born in England, she has been 
in Germany four years, living at Klein-Flottbeek 
as a nurse. She wrote a letter to a friend in Ruh- 
leben, in which she made remarks about Kitch- 
ener's death which offended the censor officials in 
Euhleben. On being advised of this, she sent an 
apology to Graf Schwerin. Later she was seized 
and brought to Holzminden. She had a British 
passport, which was taken from her by the author- 
ities from Holzminden. She is in need of clothes 
and wishes to be removed to England. 

Case of Mes. B . Mrs. B has been in 

Holzminden since June 29, 1916. She was born 
in Germany. Her husband, a Dane, had lived in 
England for more than twenty years. She came 
to Germany two years before the war broke out, 
living at Holstein, where her son was working in a 
foundry. Two prisoners of war escaped from 
the place where he was working; she stated that 
her son was arrested charged with complicity in 
their escape, and she was seized and sent to Holz- 
minden. 

Case of Mes. . Mrs. was the wife 

of a professor of one of the Canadian universities. 
She was in Switzerland at the commencement of 
the war and then went to Hamburg. In August, 



224 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

1914, she was supplied with 150 marks from the 
American consul general at Hamburg. She went 
to Holland, and had some difficulty in getting 
across to England, so she returned to Hamburg, 
where she has been since that time. She dis- 
obeyed the police regulations that she must be in 
her dwelling place after 8 p. m., and for that rea- 
son has been interned at Holzminden. She con- 
siders herself a British subject. 

Surely a civilized government should have far 
more serious reasons than stated in these cases 
to create such an atmosphere as that in Holzmin- 
den. 

In contrast to the camp, the commandant and 
his officers were housed in a fine sanatarium build- 
ing some distance away. He took no pains to con- 
ceal a very cordial dislike in anything connected 
or concerned with the British, including the in- 
spection officers of the Embassy. As an open 
manifestation of this a printed copy of the 
''Hymn of Hate" was hung ostentatiously in the 
commandant's office where every one entering 
might "read as they ran," if they could. He at 
first denied on both visits that there were any 
British in the camp. It was only after an insis- 
tent attitude on our part that the matter was in- 
vestigated. As usual in prison camps his atti- 
tude and frame of mind was communicated to 
those under him and through the camp. As in 
working camps, the brutalizing influence of crude, 
coarse, unsanitary conditions of a large camp was 



CAMPS FOR CIVILIANS INTERNED 225 

well shown in the women's section. To me look- 
ing back npon it, it was an unspeakable place. 

After a careful inspection of the German in- 
terned in England it may be stated that Germany- 
has failed miserably in meeting this problem as 
compared with the solution of it by the British. 
Even after two years of almost constant remon- 
strance, complaint, urging and threats in reference 
to Euhleben, Ambassador Gerard was compelled 
to report to the London Foreign Office as follows : 

"I regret to state that practically no improve- 
ment in the housing of the prisoners has been 
made. The barracks at Euhleben are over- 
crowded. The imperial authorities, after nearly 
two years of war, have certainly had ample time 
to improve accommodations for the prisoners. It 
is intolerable that people of education should be 
herded six together in a horse's stall; and in some 
of the lofts the bunks touch one another. The 
light for reading is bad, and reading is a neces- 
sity if these poor prisoners are to be detained dur- 
ing another winter. 

"In the hayloft above the stables conditions are 
even worse. For example, in Barrack No. 2, one- 
half section of the loft is, at the center, about two 
feet from the floor from the highest point; and 
the loft slopes downward, so that at the sides it 
is only four and a half feet above the floor. The 
floor of this part of the loft is about 10.80 meters 
by 12.80 meters. The beds are so close together 
that they touch. In this confined space sixty-four 



22G THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

men live. The light from the little windows is so 
faint that the prisoner 's eyes will be seriously in- 
jured, if the sight is not permanently lost, and 
this semidarkness will undoubtedly cause depres- 
sion and mental trouble. 

"The heating system should bo improved and 
provision made for the drying of clothes by radi- 
ators or a drying room in each barrack. The 
prisoners aro obliged to answer roll calls outside, 
often in the rain, and have no means of drying 
their soaked garments. 

"Many things, such as soap — usually issued to 
prisoners, even in jails, I am informed — have 
never been given to the prisoners at Ruhlcben. 
Various authorities from time to time have prom- 
ised that the housing would bo bettered. The 
present conditions should no longer prevail; dur- 
ing another winter they will be impossible. ..." 



CHAPTER XIV 

INTERNATIONAL LAW AS APPLIED TO THE. 
PRISONER OF WAR 

IT should be borne in mind that an examination 
of The Hague Convention will show that Great 
Britain was a signatory to the first Hague Con- 
vention in 1899. Under that convention, 1899, in 
article five it is stated as follows : 

"In the event of one of the high contracting 
Parties denouncing the present Convention, such 
denunciation would not take effect until a year 
after the notification made to the Netherland Gov- 
ernment, and by it at once communicated to all the 
other contracting Powers." 
i Great Britain acted upon this article. 
! In the second Hague Convention of 1907, under 
article four, it is stated that: "The present Con- 
vention, duly ratified, shall as between the con- 
tracting Powers be substituted for the Conven- 
tion of the 29th, July 1899, respecting the laws and 
customs of war on land." 

The Convention of 1899 remains in force as be- 
tween the Powers which signed it, and which do 
not also ratify the present Convention. 

It will, therefore, be seen that from a standpoint 
£f International Law, that The Hague Conven- 

22T 



228 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

tion of 1899 respecting the laws and customs of 
war on land still obtains as between Germany and 
Great Britain. 

.Chapter II. On Prisoners of War 
Article 4 

Prisoners of war are in the power of the hos- 
tile Government, but not in that of the individuals 
or corps who captured them. 

They must be humanely treated. 

All their personal belongings, except arms, 
horses, and military papers, remain their prop- 
erty. 

Article 5 

Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, 
fortress, camp, or any other locality ; but they can 
only be confined as an indispensable measure of 
safety. 

Article 6 

The State may utilize the labor of the prisoner 
of war according to their rank and aptitude. 
Their tasks shall not be excessive, and shall have 
nothing to do with the military operations. 

Prisoners may be authorized to work for the 
public service, for private persons, or on their own 
account. 

Work done for the State shall be paid for ac- 
cording to the tariffs in force for soldiers of the 
national army employed on similar tasks. 

When the work is for other branches of the 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 229 

public service or for private persons, the condi- 
tions shall be settled in agreement with the mili- 
tary authorities. 

The wages of the prisoners shall go towards 
improving their position, and the balance shall be 
paid them at the time of their release, after de- 
ducting the cost of their maintenance. 

Article 7 

The Government into whose hands prisoners of 
war have fallen is bound to maintain them. 

General Treatment. Failing a special agree- 
ment between the belligerents, prisoners of war 
shall be treated as regards food, quarters and 
clothing, on the same footing as the troops of the 
Government which has captured them. 

Article 8 

Prisoners of war shall be subject to the laws, 
regulations, and orders in force in the army of the 
State into whose hands they have fallen. Any act 
of insubordination warrants the adoption, as re- 
gards them, of such measures of severity as may 
be necessary. 

Escaped prisoners, recaptured before they have 
succeeded in rejoining their army, or before quit- 
ting the territory occupied by the army that cap- 
tured them, are liable to disciplinary punishment. 

Prisoners who, after succeeding in escaping are 
again taken prisoners, are not liable to any pun- 
ishment for the previous flight. 



230 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY, 

Aeticle 9 

Every prisoner of war, if questioned, is bound 
to declare his true name and rank, and if he dis- 
regards this rule, he is liable to a curtailment of 
the advantages accorded to the prisoner of war of 
his class. 

Aeticle 10 

Prisoners of war may be set at liberty on parole 
if the laws of their country authorize it, and in 
such a case, they are bound, on their personal 
honor, scrupulously to fulfil, both as regards their 
own Government and the Government by whom 
they were made prisoners, the engagements they 
have contracted. 

Eecognition of. In such cases, their own Gov- 
ernment shall not require of nor accept from them 
any service incompatible with the parole given. 

Aeticle 11 

A prisoner of war cannot be forced to accept his 
liberty on parole; similarly the hostile Govern- 
ment is not obliged to assent to the prisoner's re- 
quest to be set at liberty on parole. 

Aeticle 12 

Any prisoner of war, who is liberated on parole 
and recaptured, bearing arms against the Govern- 
ment to whom he had pledged his honor, or against 
the allies of that Government forfeits his right to 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 231 

be treated as a prisoner of war, and can be 
brought before the courts. 

Article 13 

Individuals who follow an army without directly- 
belonging to it, such as newspaper correspondents 
and reporters, sutlers, contractors, who fall into 
the enemy's hands, and whom the latter think fit 
to detain, have a right to be treated as prisoners of 
war, provided they can produce a certificate from 
the military authorities of the army they were 
accompanying. 

Article 14 

A bureau for information relative to prisoners 
of war is instituted, on the commencement of hos- 
tilities, in each of the belligerent States, and, when 
necessary, in the neutral countries on whose terri- 
tory belligerents have been received. This bureau 
is intended to answer all inquiries about prisoners 
of war, and is furnished by the various services 
concerned with all the necessary information to 
enable it to keep an individual return for each 
prisoner of war. It is kept informed of intern- 
ments and changes, as well as of admissions into 
hospitals and deaths. 

It is also the duty of the information bureau to 
receive and collect all objects of personal use, val- 
uables, letters, etc., found on battlefields or left 
by prisoners who have died in hospital or ambu- 
lance, and to transmit them to those interested. 



232 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

Akticle 15 

Relief societies for prisoners of war, which are 
regularly constituted in accordance with the law 
of the country with the object of serving as the in- 
termediary for charity, shall receive from the bel- 
ligerents for themselves and their duly accredited 
agents every facility, within the bounds of mili- 
tary requirements and administrative regulations, 
for the effective accomplishments of their humane 
task. Delegates of these societies may be admit- 
ted to the places of internment for the distribution 
of relief, as also the halting places of repatriated 
prisoners, if furnished with a personal permit by 
the military authorities, and on giving an engage- 
ment in writing to comply with all their regula- 
tions for order and police. 

Abticle 16 

The information bureau shall have the privilege 
of free postage. Letters, money orders, and val- 
uables, as well as postal parcels destined for the 
prisoners of war or dispatched by them shall be 
free of all postal duties both in the countries of 
origin and destination, as well as in those they 
pass through. 

Gifts and relief in kind for prisoners of war 
shall be admitted free of all duties of entry and 
others, as well as of payments for carriage by 
the Government railways. 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 233 

Article 17 

Officers taken prisoners may receive, if neces- 
sary, the full pay allowed them in this position by 
their country's regulations, the amount to be re- 
paid by their Government. 

Article 18 

Prisoners of war shall enjoy every latitude in 
the exercise of their religion, including attendance 
at their own church services, provided only they 
comply with regulations for order and police is- 
sued by the military authorities. 

Article 19 

The wills of prisoners of war are received or 
drawn up on the same conditions as for soldiers 
of the national army. 

Burials, Etc. The same rules shall be ob- 
served regarding death certificates, as well as for 
the burial of prisoners of war, due regard being 
paid to their grade and rank. 

Article 20 

After the conclusion of peace, the repatriation 
of prisoners of war shall take place as speedily as 
possible. 

Chapter III. On the Sick and Wounded 

Article 21 

The obligations of belligerents with regard to 
the sick and wounded are governed by the Geneva 



234 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

Convention of the 22nd, August 1864, subject to 
any modifications which may be introduced into 
it. 

A critical analysis will show in a general way 
the provisions of The Hague Convention in ref- 
erence to the prisoners of war in Germany have 
not been respected. It is evident, however, from 
the general substance of this report that these reg- 
ulations neither go far enough or are they suffi- 
ciently specific in a general way or in detail to in- 
sure for the prisoner of war a treatment consist- 
ent with the present status of civilization. While 
the actual fighting may be considered a relic of 
barbarism the prisoner of war shortly after his 
capture is removed from this atmosphere and the 
treatment extended to him should be consistent 
with the general aims and ideals of the people 
who hold him prisoner. If The Hague Conven- 
tion be a Convention as between civilized peoples, 
treatment of the prisoner of war should be in- 
sisted upon in conformity with the usages of civ- 
ilized nations. With this end in view all those 
factors which during the present war have oper- 
ated to the disadvantage of the prisoner should be 
carefully considered in future Conventions and 
Eegulations governing them drawn up, not in a 
general way, but in detail. 

In reference to First: The provisions govern- 
ing the prisoner of war : 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 235 

Article 4 

* 'Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile 
Government, but not in that of the individuals or 
corps who captured them. 

' ' They must be humanely treated. 

"All their personal belongings, except arms, 
horses, and military papers, remain their prop- 
erty." 

While here there is a distinct provision that 
the prisoner of war is in the power of the hostile 
Government, but is not in that of the individual 
corps who captured them, it is, nevertheless, true 
that while the corps did not so act the individual 
States of Germany, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurt- 
tenberg, Prussia, all held their prisoners, captured 
by their various army corps in their individual 
States. When the independent attitude of the 
various ministries of war of these States to the 
Central Government at Berlin is considered it is 
open to question whether the spirit of this article 
is maintained. 

The Central Government must deal directly 
through its Embassy with the Central Government 
of the Empire and not that of the individual 
States. If the individual States and even the in- 
dividual army corps commanders within such 
States have the right and the power to disregard 
recommendations from the Central Ministry of 
War at Berlin the control of the care of the pris- 
oner of war and the correction of evils incidental 



V 



236 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

thereto will be found increasingly difficult and 
often impossible. To offer an analogy would be 
very much the same as if the regiments from the 
various States in the United States should turn 
over to their respective States prisoners of war 
captured; the prisoner would then remain under 
divided authority and responsibility established 
as between the War Department in Washington 
and the local State governments. 

While the general scheme of organization plan 
of camp and the regulations regarding treatment, 
feeding and clothing the prisoner of war was ad-? 
hered to. Eegulations concerning the governing 
of the prisoner of war were frequently issued by 
the state ministries of war (Bavaria, etc.), and 
army corps commanders directly at variance with 
those of the War Ministry. 

The second part of this provision, that pris- 
oners must be humanely treated could not even be 
considered as true in reference to many of the 
matters considered in this book. 

Article 5 

1 'Prisoners of war may be interned in a town, 
fortress, camp, or any other locality, and bound 
not to go beyond certain fixed limits ; but they can 
only be confined as an indispensable measure of 
safety." 

While the terms of this article are somewhat ob- 
scure it may be stated in a general way that the 
principle was adhered to. In reprisal and pun- 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 237 

ishment camps it was not respected and more par- 
ticularly in camps such as Minden. 

In Minden, Langensalza, and other " forcing 
camps, ' ' both the spirit and the letter of this pro- 
vision was violated. This is true even if the 
term "confined" means confinement in prison for 
the simple reason that the camp at Minden could 
not be considered as other than prison confine- 
ment. The confinement in this camp prison was 
not "an indispensable measure of safety," but a 
forcing measure to compel noncommissioned offi- 
cers to labor in working camps. 

Article 6 

"A. The State may utilize the labor of the 
prisoner of war according to their rank and apti- 
tude. Their tasks shall not be excessive and shall 
have nothing to do with military operations." 

While the Convention of 1899 does not consider 
the question of officers the Convention of 1907 
excepts officers. While this matter was consid- 
ered in the chapter under Working Camps it may 
be stated in a general way that as far as the Brit- 
ish prisoners of war were concerned the general 
spirit of this article was obeyed. The question 
whether the noncommissioned officer should be y' 
compelled to work is a matter which gave rise to 
endless trouble. This has likewise been consid- 
ered under the chapter on the Problems of the 
Working Camps. 

A matter pressing for definition is what con- 



238 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

stitutes "Military Operations," (Convention of 
1899), "Operations of War," (Convention of 
1907). By complaints received from time to time 
the British prisoner was compelled to work upon 
military operations. It was found upon investi- 
gation that while this in rare instances was true, it 
was not the rule and upon protest upon the part 
of the Embassy or of the Inspection the matter 
was immediately corrected. Whether work on 
military roads or on the preliminary stages of 
munition work in ship yards where small destroy- 
ers were being built, but in which department the 
prisoner of war did not come in contact, consti- 
tutes military operations should be definitely set- 
tled by agreement. Some of the prisoners of war 
at Homeln even went so far as to contend that 
working in a canning factory was assisting in mil- 
itary operations. The advice of the Embassy that 
such a position could not be supported had no 
effect upon those who had refused to take part in 
such work, and who preferred to remain in punish- 
ment barracks and to later face a court martial on 
the charge of refusal to work rather than com- 
promise with their convictions in this matter. 

While there was much to be said for the position 
taken by the prisoners of war, inasmuch as the 
preparation of tin foods in a country under a food 
blockade may be considered in a very broad way 
as a part of a defensive military operation, if this 
position, however, were taken even as a military 
proposition, it could easily be extended to practi- 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 239 

cally every type of work to which the prisoner was 
assigned in Germany. For that reason there is 
no other position for the Embassy to take than to 
stand strictly upon the above stipulation of mili- 
tary operation or operations at war. Under this 
one cannot go much further than to insist that a 
prisoner should not be employed either in the dig- 
ging of trenches or the making of roads designed 
directly for military operations in the military 
zones adjacent to the fighting lines, that he should 
not be employed in the manufacture of explosives 
or munitions or be expected to handle them in 
transportation, that he should not be employed on 
aeroplanes nor zeppelins or hangars designed to 
house them, nor should he be employed either di- 
rectly or indirectly in the building of water craft 
designed for military purposes. While it was 
claimed that a British prisoner of war was em- 
ployed in military operations in the east front in 
Poland, this can neither be confirmed nor denied 
because the Embassy was refused permission to 
either visit or inspect prisoners of war in this 
area. The assertion that the French and Rus- 
sian prisoners of war were employed on mili- 
tary operations was justified on the ground that 
in France the German prisoners were so em- 
ployed. 

Aeticle 6 

"B. Prisoners may be authorized to work for 
the public service for private persons, or on their 
own account." 



240 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

"Work done for the State shall be paid for ac- 
cording to the tariffs in force for soldiers of the 
national army employed on similar tasks. ' ' 

Under the chapter on working camps it will be 
observed that this section was not only strictly 
adhered to, but that a compensation for work of 
the British prisoners of war was in excess of that 
paid to the German soldier, but less than that paid 
to the German workman. It is, however, specifi- 
cally stated here that the compensation shall be 
according to the tariff in force for soldiers of the 
German army so employed. The prisoners were 
never permitted to work on their own account. 

Article 6 

"C. When the work is for other branches of the 
public service or for private persons, the condi- 
tions shall be settled in agreement with the mili- 
tary authorities. 

"The wages of the prisoners shall go towards 
the improving of their position, and the balance 
shall be paid them at the time of their release, 
after deducting the cost of their maintenance." 

As far as the war has gone this section has been 
lived up to. Whether the balance reserved under 
this clause will be paid at the time of their release 
remains to be seen. 

Article 7 

"The Government into whose hands the pris- 
oner of war has fallen is bound to maintain them. 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 241 

1 " Failing a special agreement between the bellig- 
erents, prisoners of war shall be treated as re- 
gards food, quarters, and clothing, on the same 
footing as the troops of the Government which has 
captured them." 

As regards quarters, it may be stated that the 
quarters in general were somewhat similar to 
those provided for the guard. This, however, was 
not true either of food or clothing. It may be 
stated that during the first year of the war and to 
a certain extent still, the provisions of this article 
have not been lived up to. 

Article 8 

"A. Prisoners of war shall be subject to the 
laws, regulations and orders in force in the army 
of the State into whose hands they have fallen. 

"B. Any act of insubordination warrants the 
adoption, as regards them, of such measures of 
severity as may be necessary. Escaped prison- 
ers, recaptured before they have succeeded in re- 
joining their army, or before quitting the territory 
occupied by the army that captured them, are 
liable to disciplinary punishment. 

"C. Prisoners who, after succeeding in escap- 
ing, are again taken prisoners, are not liable to 
any punishment for the previous flight." 

The provisions embodied in the first paragraph 
of this article gave entirely too much latitude to 
the German guard. The German army regula- 
tions are, I think, exceptionally severe and it is a 



242 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

mistake to treat minor acts of insubordination in 
the prisoner as on the same level, for the same 
offence, on the part of the men in the German 
Army, where such insubordination would evi- 
dently lead to military inefficiency, The second 
paragraph of this chapter was as a rule respected, 
both as to word and spirit and while the punish- 
ment in both army corps varied somewhat, it was 
never exceptionally severe as to the prisoner of 
war. The punishment, however, was exception- 
ally harsh in reference to the civilian interned who 
attempted escape. Cases involving the third par- 
agraph were never presented for consideration. 

Article 9 

" Every prisoner of war, if questioned, is bound 
to declare his true name and rank, and if he dis- 
regards this rule, he is liable to a curtailment of 
the advantages accorded to the prisoners of war of 
his class." 

This needs no consideration. 

Article 10 

"Prisoners of war may be set at liberty on pa- 
role if the laws of their country authorize it, and, 
in such a case, they are bound on their personal 
honor, scrupulously to fulfil, both as regards their 
own Government and the Government by whom 
they were made prisoners, the engagements they 
have contracted. 

"In such cases, their own Government shall not 



INTERNATIONAL LAW, 243 

require of nor accept from them any; service in- 
compatible with the parole given. ' ' 

Article 11 
t 

"A prisoner of war cannot be forced to accept 

his liberty on parole ; similarly the hostile Govern- 
ment is not obliged to assent to the prisoner's re- 
quest to be set at liberty on parole. ' ' 

Article 12 

"Any prisoner of war, who is liberated on pa- 
role and recaptured bearing arms against the Gov- 
ernment to whom he had pledged his honor, or 
against the allies of that Government, forfeits his 
right to be treated as a prisoner of war, and can 
be brought before the courts." 

Inasmuch as the question of parole related only 
to officers and then only for short periods of time, 
it may be stated in a general way, that these arti- 
cles have not been found applicable to the prisoner 
of war problem during the present war. 

Article 13 

"Individuals who followed an army without di- 
rectly belonging to it such as newspaper corre- 
spondents and reporters, sutlers, contractors, who 
fall into the enemy's hands, and whom the latter 
think fit to detain, have a right to be treated as 
prisoners of war, provided they can produce a cer- 
tificate from the military authorities of the army 
they were accompanying." 



V 



244 THE PRISONER OF. WAR IN GERMANY 

No cases coming under this classification were 
brought to the Embassy for consideration. 

Aeticle 14 

"A bureau for information relatively to prison- 
ers of war is instituted, on the commencement of 
hostilities, in each of the belligerent States, and 
when necessary, in the neutral countries on whose 
territory belligerents have been received. This 
bureau is intended to answer all inquiries about 
prisoners of war, and is furnished by the various 
services concerned with all the necessary informa- 
tion to enable it to keep an individual return for 
each prisoner of war. It is kept informed of in- 
ternments and changes, as well as of admissions 
into hospitals and deaths.' ' 

"While according to the specifications of this arti- 
cle a bureau of information was established in con- 
nection with the War Ministry in Berlin to which 
lists of captured prisoners are forwarded and 
which by the routine established these lists were 
in time sent to the German Foreign Office and from 
thence to the Embassy. It was frequently weeks 
before these lists were received. In some cases an 
attempt was evidently made to conceal a prisoner 
of war and when the presence of such prisoners 
was called to the attention of the Foreign Office a 
delayed list was sent. This was true more partic- 
ularly in reference to prisoners from the British 
Fleet who might have information desirable to be 
concealed and prisoners from the mercantile ma- 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 245 

rine taken after sea raids or prisoners such as the 
women stewardesses of the Brussels who were 
held pending the decision of the case of Captain 
Fryat. A perusal of the diplomatic correspond- 
ence published in the White Papers will show 
that the British Government contended and proved 
that the German Government did not live up to the 
word or spirit of this article. The German Gov- 
ernment contended that the Red Cross bureau was 
official and part of their army service. This prin- 
ciple if admitted gave an opportunity for con- 
cealing information and shifting responsibility, 
etc. 

The various bureaus of the various Red Cross 
had their own prisoner of war information bu- 
reau, and this often proved to be the quickest 
source of information. The admissions of prison- 
ers of war into camp hospitals, even when seri- 
ously ill were not reported and while deaths were 
reported, deaths from violence or prisoners killed 
by the guard were never reported as such to the 
Embassy and not reported as such to the family 
of the individual. 

Article 15 

"Relief societies for prisoners of war, which are 
regularly constituted in accordance with the law 
of the country with the object of serving as the 
intermediary for charity, shall receive from the 
belligerents for themselves and their duly accred- 
ited agents eyery^ facility, within the bounds of 



246 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

military requirements and administrative regula- 
tions, for the effective accomplishment of their 
humane task. Delegates of these societies may be 
admitted to the places of internment for the dis- 
tribution of relief, as also to the halting places of 
repatriated prisoners, if furnished with a personal 
permit by the military authorities, and on giving 
an engagement in writing to comply with all their 
regulations for order and police. ' ' 

The International Y. M. C. A. was given per- 
mission to visit the parent camps and while some 
difficulties arose from time to time, it may be said 
as far as this Society was concerned, in reference 
to camps, the letter of this regulation was ob- 
served, even if the spirit of it was at times vio- 
lated. 

The wording of this article is somewhat vague. 
"While it is not specifically stated it is evidently 
intended to apply to relief societies organized 
in neutral countries. Neither delegations nor 
representatives of the many French and Brit- 
ish Societies were permitted to visit these camps 
and under the conditions this was hardly to be 
expected. 

Abticle 16 

"The information bureau shall have the privi- 
lege of free postage. Letters, money orders, and 
valuables, as well as postal parcels destined for 
the prisoners of war or dispatched by them, shall 
be free from all postal duties both in the countries 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 247 

of origin and destination, as well as in those they 
pass through. 

" Gifts and relief in kind for prisoners of war 
shall be admitted free from all duties of entry 
and others, as well as of payments for carriage by 
the Government railways." 

The first paragraph of this section was re- 
spected in both letter and spirit ; in regard to the 
second paragraph complaint was occasionally 
made of charges both of gifts and packages. 
Prayer books sent to Limburg were charged for 
postage, etc. This was, however, the exception, 
and not the rule. 

Article 17 

"Officers taken prisoner may receive, if neces- 
sary, the full pay allowed them in this position by 
their country's regulations, the amount to be re- 
paid by their Government. ' ' 

This gave rise to much contention the first year 
of the war. The German Government at first re- 
fused to abide by the provisions of this article, 
but after a threat of reprisal eventually consented 
to it. 

An arrangement was later made whereby the 
British prisoners could draw through Holland for 
their full pay. 

Article 18 

"Prisoners of war shall enjoy every latitude in 
the exercise of their religion, including attend- 



248 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

ance at their own church services, provided only 
they comply with the regulations for order and 
police issued by the military authorities." 

It may be stated that in a general way an at- 
tempt was made to observe this provision. In 
working camps, however, provisions for the at- 
tendance of the prisoners of war at religious serv- 
ices were often either neglected or lack of provi- 
sion made, which amounted to prohibition. 

Aeticle 19 

"The wills of prisoners of war are received or 
drawn up on the same conditions as for soldiers 
of the national army. 

"The same rules shall be observed regarding 
death certificates as well as for the burial of pris- 
oners of war ; due regard being paid to their grade 
and rank." 

No complaint can be made in reference to the 
observances of this article. 

Notwithstanding the exceptions noted under 
each of the above headings it will be seen that the 
general underlying principle established for the 
prisoner of war was based upon the rules laid 
down in this Convention. When conditions arose 
not covered by this Convention they received con- 
sideration either by voluntary agreement between 
the belligerent Powers affected to the Central 
Government representing them or by reprisal car- 
ried out by one or other groups of prisoners of 
war as the case might be, 



INTERNATIONAL LAW 249 

The Geneva Convention of 1906 for the amelio- 
ration of the condition of the wounded in armies 
in the field — 

Chapter I. Article 4 

"As soon as possible each belligerent shall for- 
ward to the authorities of their country or army 
the marks or military papers of identification 
found upon the bodies of the dead, together with 
a list of names of the sick and wounded taken in 
charge by him. 

"Belligerents will keep each other mutually ad- 
vised of internments and transfers, together with 
admissions to hospitals and deaths which occur 
among the sick and wounded in their hands. 
They will collect all objects of personal use, val- 
uables, letters, etc., which are found upon the field 
of battle, or have been left by the sick or wounded 
who have died in sanitary formations or other es- 
tablishments, for transmission to persons in inter- 
est through the authorities of their own country. ' ' 

This has already been considered. In reference 
to the hospitals attached to the prison camps, re- 
ports were not so made, even when prisoners were 
seriously ill. Deaths were reported as were ad- 
missions of wounded prisoners to the regular mili- 
tary hospitals. 

Chapter III. Article 9 

"The personnel charged exclusively with the re- 
moval, transportation, and treatment of the sick 



250 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

and wounded, as well as with the administration 
of sanitary formations and establishments, and 
the chaplains attached to armies, shall he re- 
spected and protected under all circumstances. 
If they fall into the hands of the enemy they shall 
not be considered as prisoners of war. 

"These provisions apply to the guards of sani- 
tary formations and establishments in the case 
provided for in section 2 of Article 8." 

In many camps members of the Eoyal Army 
Medical Corps were held and treated as prisoners 
of war. Mention has already been made, under 
the chapter on Wittenberg, of a violation of this 
article. In reference to Red Cross orderlies, 
stretcher bearers, etc., the practice in the last year 
has been to return them to their own countries. 
Notwithstanding this, complaints were occa- 
sionally made by men, prisoners of war, who 
claimed they were attached to sanitary formations. 

Chapter III. Article 12 

" Persons described in Articles 9, 10 and 11, 
will continue in the exercise of their functions, un- 
der the direction of the enemy, after they have 
fallen into his power. 

"When their assistance is no longer indispens- 
able they will be sent back to their army or coun- 
try, within such period and by such route as may 
accord with military necessity. They will carry 
with them such effects, instruments, arms and 
horses as are their private property.' ' 



INTERNATIONAL LAW; 251 

It might be assumed that this article covers and 
excuses the violation of Article 9 discussed in the 
paragraph above. While Russian and French 
physicians were found in the Prison Camp Hos- 
pitals, the British were practically never found 
there except during the typhus epidemic. They 
were held and treated as prisoners in camps for 
officers, prisoners of war. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE INTERNMENT OE PRISONERS OP WAR IN 
SWITZERLAND 

GENEVA Convention of 1906, Chapter I, Ar- 
ticle 2: 

" Subject to the care that must be taken of them 
under the preceding article, the sick and wounded 
of an army who fall into the power of the other 
belligerent become prisoners of war, and the gen- 
eral rules of international law in respect to pris- 
oners of war become applicable to them. 

''The belligerents remain free, however, to mu- 
tually agree upon such clauses, by way of excep- 
tion or favor, in relation to the wounded or sick 
as they may deem proper. They shall especially 
have authority to agree — 

"1. To mutually return the sick and wounded 
left on the field of battle after an engagement. 

"2. To send back to their own country the sick 
and wounded who have recovered, or who are in a 
condition to be transported and whom they do not 
desire to retain as prisoners. 

1 ' 3. To send the sick and wounded of the enemy 
to a neutral State, with the consent of the latter 
and on condition that it shall charge itself with 
their internment until the close of hostilities." 

252 



PRISONERS OF WAR IN SWITZERLAND 253 

After prolonged negotiations an arrangement 
was eventually effected covering the conditions of 
exchange of wounded and ill prisoners of war ac- 
cording to paragraph 3, above stated. Local V 
boards were convened in the different army corps 
and the British chosen for exchange were assem- 
bled at Aix la Chapelle and passed on by a board 
consisting of several medical staff officers and an 
officer representing the line. 

The medical conditions upon which exchange 
was based were as follows : 

(a) All severely wounded and sick who be- 
cause of their injuries or the disease with which 
they were suffering will not be able to resume 
active service and in case of officers and noncom- 
missioned officers, who were not able to perform 
office work or instruction of recruits were to be 
considered candidates for exchange. 

(b) The injuries or illnesses which would war- 
rant exchange were the following : 

1. The entire or partial loss of one or more 
extremities (the least being a hand or foot). 

2. Impaired usefulness of one or more ex- 
tremities, because of stiffness, atrophy or short- 
ening of muscles, false joints; disease of spine, 
which resulted in a marked disturbance in motility 
or more advanced cases where there was an asso- 
ciated aneurism. In the above two paragraphs 
the loss or paralysis of an extremity in commis- 
sioned and noncommissioned officers would not be 



254 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

considered unless an associated illness made them 
unfit for office work or instruction of recruits. 

3. Permanent paralysis, or that which because 
of its position or extension was of a severe degree. 

4. Injury to the brain with severe sequelae 
(Hemiplegia or the disturbance of important 
brain functions). 

5. Injury of the spinal cord with severe sequelae. 

6. Loss of sight in both eyes (blindness). The 
loss of sight in one eye was to be considered, if 
there was a marked diminution of vision in the 
remaining eye. 

7. Severe disfigurement of the face and severe 
injury of the oral cavity. 

8. Protracted illness following wounds. 

9. "Wounds of the chest. 

10. Abdominal and pelvic wounds. (In 9 and 
10 only when followed by sequelae.) 

11. Advanced Pulmonary Tuberculosis. 

12. Chronic illness as a result of internal dis- 
ease. 

13. Incurable mental diseases. 

A repatriation of only a small number of men 
and officers was effected upon the basis of this 
agreement. These were so badly wounded that 
there was not the slightest possibility of any of 
them ever being of any possible use from a mili- 
tary or an auxiliary standpoint. Notwithstand- 
ing sections 11 and 13 of this agreement, large 
numbers of prisoners suffering from tuberculosis 



J 



PRISONERS OF WAR IN SWITZERLAND 255 

even in the advanced stages (vide infra-mortality 
statistics), and mental diseases were refused re- 
patriation on the bare possibility that they might 
recover and be of some slight military value. 

There was no prospect with food conditions as 
they were, with the fat supply at the lowest level 
of any of the food products and no prospect of 
hope of improvement in reference to it, that pa- 
tients suffering with tuberculosis could or would 
receive the over-feeding diet necessary to make 
any improvement in their condition. The condi- 
tions in the camps were likewise unfavorable. 
The tuberculous patients when sufficiently ad- 
vanced to be easily recognized were grouped in 
one of the barracks of the camp hospital. In one 
of the camps (Wahn) they were housed in a pavil- 
lion outside of the camp. While there was some 
talk of an institution for the special care of tuber- 
culous prisoners and a site selected, this had not 
materialized up to September, 1916. The nervous 
tension, depression and uncertainty as to the fu- 
ture acted in a deleterious way on these patients. 
They uniformly went from bad to worse, from in- 
cipient early curable cases to hopeless advanced 
cases, dying in confinement. 

According to the statistics issued by the Ger- 
man Government, August 1st, 1916, 29,297 deaths 
had occurred amongst the prisoners of war; of 
these 6,032 died from tuberculosis, 4,201 from ty- 
phus fever, 6,270 from wounds, and 6,603 from 
other causes (illness, accident (?), suicide, etc.). 



256 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

It is quite conceivable that at home the early cases 
of tuberculosis at least might be cured. It was 
quite certain on the other hand that if they were 
not returned home they would not get well and 
would probably die. Even if they did get better, 
even well, they could not be used again for mili- 
tary purposes. Assuming, however, that a small 
number might be so used, the condemning to death 
of these 6,000 men by slow stages away from their 
families, reeks of the barbarity of the Middle 
Ages. 

I have heard men suffering with tuberculosis 
beg for fat as a drug habitue would beg for mor- 
phine. I have heard consumptives demand that 
if they could not be better treated and better fed 
that it was the duty of the German Government 
to send them home. This action in relation to the 
consumptives cannot be excused in a nation who 
stood first in the crusade against tuberculosis, the 
pioneer in fact, and so proud of their position and 
knowledge that long before the war, with Prus- 
sian arrogance they would not concede to the 
scientists of other nations the right to question 
their opinion or judgment. (Controversy over 
the intercommunicability of bovine and human tu- 
berculosis, continuing up to the international con- 
gress of tuberculosis in Washington, 1907.) 
They certainly knew the underlying principles of 
the nature of the disease, its course and eventual 
termination in this group of cases. They knew 
what they were doing and deliberately went ahead 



PRISONERS OF WAR IN SWITZERLAND 257 

because it was a military matter and a paltry few 
soldiers might get back to duty. 

The report from Switzerland published wide- 
spread in the daily prints in the fall of 1916 that 
tuberculosis was deliberately inoculated into pris- 
oners returned to France through Switzerland, I 
do not believe. I had every opportunity for ob- 
serving any such performance and saw no evi- 
dence in support of it. After all, it had no mili- 
tary bearing or value and such action would, 
therefore, be inconsistent with the German mili- 
tary mind. 

That they did leave hundreds of Irish prisoners 
in Limburg, in overcrowded barracks, cheek by 
jowl with early and middle stage cases of tuber- 
culosis, I do believe, because I saw it myself and 
protested, not only to the commandant, but to the 
Army Corps officers and to the foreign office in 
Berlin. I even went so far as to point out that 
where so much lung disease existed they should 
have every man in this camp examined by an ex- 
pert in order to weed out the active cases of lung 
disease, separate them from the healthy men in 
the overcrowded, poorly-ventilated barracks and 
to take measures to save the early cases. I had 
the temerity to suggest the names of experts com- 
petent to do this work and this advisedly because 
in the hospital and in the barrack infirmaries they 
refused to acknowledge as tuberculous men who 
were having hemorrhages, chronic cough, loss of 
weight and fever and were diagnosed on the bed 



258 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

charts as gastritis, chronic bronchitis, chronic 
pleurisy, etc., and yet nothing was done. They 
were prisoners, had refused the offer of a friendly 
hand, the military necessity, the safety of the Em- 
pire and the infallibility in diagnosis of the Ger- 
man Army doctor demanded that nothing should 
be done. 

What has been said of tuberculosis was equally 
true of mental disease. It is self-evident and a 
rule driven home by experience, that a man who 
has had a mental break-down, whether he be officer 
or private, can never be trusted again in the Army 
where clear thinking and mental responsibility 
are essential qualifications. Notwithstanding 
this, men who had gone insane at prison camps 
were refused repatriation because, forsooth, they 
might recover their reason at home. It was evi- 
dent that they would not get well under the mental 
stress and worry of prison confinement. A 
specific case in point is that of Captain C , con- 
fined in a sanatorium near Magdeburg, suffering 
from delusional insanity. The case was investi- 
gated by Dr. Ohnesorg and myself. The expert 
on insanity in charge of the institution admitted 

that Captain C could not possibly get well in 

Germany under confinement, but refused to recom- 
mend repatriation because he stated he would 
have good chances for the recovery of his reason 
at home. All of which was quite true. 

After much diplomatic discussion and pro- 
longed delay an agreement was reached at first 



PRISONERS OF WAR IN SWITZERLAND 259 

between France and Germany and later between 
German and Great Britain whereby a prisoner 
suffering from certain specified diseases and who 
would not be included in the exchange lists noted 
above, might be interned in Switzerland for the 
remainder of the war at the expense of the parent 
country of the nationals interned. (For the list 
of diseases, regulations governing the internment 
and the interned, see Appendix.) 

A commission of Swiss physicians were to visit / 
the various camps ; a German physician had a seat 
on this commission. All the prisoners of war 
were to be notified in advance of the visit of the 
commission and were to have the right to apply 
for examination if they considered themselves 
eligible for internment. 

In addition to this a list of sick prisoners from 
hospitals and camps were to be referred by the 
German military surgeon. The commission be- 
gan its labors with the British in the early summer 
of 1916. The commission refused, however, to ac- 
cept mental cases and would only accept tubercu- 
lous cases in the very early stages. The advanced 
cases of tuberculosis, at first full of hope, were de- 
pressed and disappointed at this signal of their 
doom. While a large number of cases were in- 
terned from Limburg, a still large number of 
cases remained. The cases who should have been 
interned were men in the barracks, many of whom 
did not even suspect they had the disease. 

Many difficulties developed in the carrying out 



260 THE PRISONER OF. WAR IN GERMANY 

of the work of the commission. Some of these 
were incidental to the scope of the work, its size 
and the fact that such a large percentage of pris- 
oners were in the working camps. It was as- 
sumed that the latter were in good health. Some 
of the difficulties placed in the way of easy access 
to the commission were due to a lack of full co- 
operation hy some of the commandants of the 
camps. Sometimes previous notice of the visit of 
the commission was not made in the camps and 
only cases referred by the camp physicians were 
examined. The British prisoners at Kreis Celle 
complained that those of them selected by the 
camp surgeon for examination by the commission 
were sent to another parent camp where the com- 
mission was sitting; that there they were assigned 
to hard work. Upon their refusal to work upon 
the grounds that they were ill, the noncommis- 
sioned officer told them unless they did the 
work assigned to them they would not be per- 
mitted to appear before the commission. On the 
whole, barring a few exceptions such as those just 
mentioned, the work of the commission was sup- 
ported by the camp commandants and the military 
surgeons. 

A commission of review sat at the border and 
re-examined those passing into Switzerland. Oc- 
casionally cases passed by the commission were re- 
turned to the camps as ineligible for internment. 
Such cases were pathetic in their disappointment. 
A similar case to these was that of a young Brit- 



PRISONERS OF WAR IN SWITZERLAND 261 

ish officer at Magdeburg who made an unsuccess- 
ful attempt to escape, was tried and sentenced to 
one year of imprisonment in a military jail. 
Shortly after beginning serving this sentence, he 
was sent by the prison doctor, on account of a com- 
pound fracture of the leg (and without any re- 
quest of his own) before the Swiss commission. 
He was passed upon favorably for internment at 
Switzerland, but the Army Corps commander then 
ruled that he would have to serve the remaining 
ten months of his sentence in jail before the in- 
ternment in Switzerland could be carried out. 

The British passed by the Commission were as- 
signed by the Swiss Government to the village of 
Chateau D'Oux, a summer resort with a large 
number of hotels, boarding houses, cottages, etc. 
I found this village located in one of the most 
beautiful valleys in Switzerland without even the 
suggestion of a guard. This was true not only of 
the village but of the entire valley in which it was 
located. The enlisted men lived in the smaller 
hotels one or at the most two, in a room — quar- 
ters equal to, if not better than that assigned to 
officers in the officers' prison camps in Germany. 
They were treated both as to food and quarters 
on the same plane as the usual summer tourist. 
Officers occupied cottages and might have their 
families with them, a privilege which many of 
them availed themselves of. The whole atmos- 
phere of freedom and contentment was in sharp 
contrast to the ever-present bayonet, the soup, and 



262 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

the swaggering, pompous officer of the German 
prison camp. There was no necessity for a 
guard, the contracting governments agreeing to 
return to Switzerland any of their prisoners in- 
terned who might escape. 



CHAPTERI XVI 

CONCLUSIONS 

WIDESPREAD contact with the best ele- 
ments of the German people, the middle, 
the working and the farmer class, gave the im- 
pression that they wanted the prisoner of war to 
be cared for properly and that they believed this 
was being done. The passion and race hatred 
that led at times to irresponsible, brutal and cruel 
actions to the British prisoner of war in the early 
days of the war had given way after two years of 
contact to a sane attitude, so much so that the offi- 
cers could go on their walks freely in Germany, 
and the prisoners of war to their work or on the 
farms with little or no cause for complaint. The 
exceptions to this in the mines and in the work- 
shops at times have already been noted. On ac- 
count of the strict censorship of the press, and 
their inability to understand the technical side of 
many questions, they did not realize, did not know 
of the attitude of the neutral world towards the 
handling of the prisoner of war problem. 

- They expected their government, I think, to act 
decently, and I think the central civil government 
tried to meet the problem fairly, and as far as it 

263 



264 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

was able did meet it in a general way in a fair and 
satisfactory manner. The administration of the 
problem was, however, in the hands of the Army, 
and the Army Corps Commanders felt themselves 
more powerful than the Central Government. On 
general subjects such as the industrial problem, 
working camps, etc., and in all military matters- 
they acted independently. In technical matters 
they were advised by their own staff experts. I 
have already stated in connection with the deser- 
tion of the typhus camps, that I did not believe 
this represented the spirit or ideals of the German 
medical profession. The professional army sur- 
geon of Europe, as differentiated from the civil 
surgeon or physician, is a different individual. 
The army surgeon whether he likes it or not, is a 
part of a distinctive military machine. Sooner 
or later he realizes that he is an essential part of 
the machine; comes in time to look on problems 
from a military angle ; is concerned more with the 
health and efficiency of his men than with the re- 
constructive work after they have been rendered 
unfit in the service. 

During the first year of the war, when the mili- 
tary surgeon was dominant and before sheer ne- 
cessity forced thousands of civilian doctors, many 
of exceptional position and brain power, into the 
ranks, he was more interested in keeping his line 
of communication open, to get the sick and 
wounded out of the way to some distant point than 
he was in the fortunes of the individual case. He 



CONCLUSIONS 265 

was proud not to have his hospitals full with op- 
portunities for helping the wounded, but rather 
that his hospital was empty, ready for any emer- 
gency of sudden attack or defense. He was think- 
ing more as a soldier than as a doctor. He had 
grown to look upon the wounded as incubus, and 
to assume the military point of view to send men 
and munitions and supplies and food to the front, 
and if, when opportunity and means offered, to get 
the wounded back for treatment. Not that this 
point of view did not have its own value; war 
means men and guns, not doctors and wounded 
men who cannot fight. But that was the military 
point of view as contrasted with the purely hu- 
manitarianism of the civilian doctor. 

One can imagine how far afield, in such a ma- 
chine as the German Army, such an idea could be 
carried. It was just such a point of view that led 
whoever was in charge to order or consent to the 
order, for sending the wounded prisoners of war 
to the camp at Minden. The German profession, 
no less than the German people in reference to the 
general problem, would not have willingly and 
knowingly consented to such a perverted view. 
They were, however, without knowledge of such 
occurrences, and would have been powerless had 
they the knowledge. 

The Geheim-rath professor of philosophy, 
chemistry or medicine is no longer the power, the 
ideal of the German people. The man on the 
horse has slowly, surely, during the past twenty 



*/ 



266 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

years, forced him into an inconspicuous and rela- 
tively unimportant position in German life. His 
position was made dependent on political consid- 
erations. Today lie has no more freedom in the 
expression of his opinions than the man in the 
street. The profession as a whole, more limited 
than its leaders in power and the ability to ex- 
press themselves, were forced into the same mold 
as the rest of the German people by the military 
powers exercised through the censorship of the 
press. The noisy clique of professors, fraternity 
brothers of the crown prince might clamor for the 
reckless use of the submarine. The public press 
was open to them. Let the sane, able men of the 
profession attempt a protest not sanctioned by the 
military and not only the press, but every other 
means of protest, was closed to them. If they 
became too insistent, well, the fate of Liebknecht 
was a lesson, and an example not to be disregarded 
by thinking men. 

The slow, insistent, inspired articles, day by 
day, in the German press had their poisonous 
effect in directing thought and belief as to the 
" perfidy of the British" and the crime of "Amer- 
ican ammunition to kill German soldiers" of the 
American, on the professional man as easily as on 
the farmer or the mechanic. It became likewise 
a matter of faith, of patriotism, not to question 
the action of the army, its generals in the field or 
its surgeons at the army corps headquarters. It 



CONCLUSIONS 267 

was so in France, during the Dreyfus affair, in 
England, during the first year of the war and it 
may be so with us unless all signs fail. 

It is inconceivable in spite of the patriotism that 
blinds, that the profession in this country so vi- 
tally interested in right action, so jealous of its 
own honor, would stand for the faults herein re- 
ported, were they to be committed, either as acts 
of omission or commission, by surgeons, a part of 
the profession in the army and yet in thought and 
action a group apart. 

Early in the war the French profession freed 
from the sanctity of the army by the Dreyfus 
purge, demanded reforms in the Sanitary service, 
and so dependent was the army on the civilian 
doctor, so interested the general public in the 
proper and efficient treatment of the wounded, that 
a cabinet crisis was precipitated and the service 
promptly reorganized. Such action would be im- 
possible in Germany. There would be no action, 
or possibility of creating and spreading sentiment 
in favor of it. As mentioned above, there was no 
such sentiment. The army was a perfect machine 
with no faults to be found with any part of it. 
This was patriotism. Any dissent from it was 
met by an action based on the Burger-Frieden 
town peace principle. This idea is as old as the 
German people ; it is in substance that in the face 
of the enemy there should be no expression of a 
difference of opinion, no open quarrels, political 



/" 



268 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

or otherwise. This was stretched by the military 
to the point of the prevention of expression of 
any opinions not favorable to them. 

There is no question that the German people 
believe and believe sincerely, that they are fighting 
a defensive war ; fighting for the actual existence 
of their homes and the Fatherland. The idea of . 
the mission of the race, of world domination, was 
essentially of the military and the upper thinking 
classes. The masses of the people were content 
with the prosperity, that industrial prosperity 
which a benevolent paternalism gave them. 
The unity of ideation with patriotism for the war 
was created and cleverly developed and main- 
tained through a censored and inspired press. 
After all it was easily created. i ' Had not Eussia 
mobilized first?" and after the first rush into 
France and the failure at the Marne did not "the 
rush of Russian hordes into East Prussia, ad- 
vancing almost to the gates of Berlin with fire 
and rape and pillage," threaten the very life of the 
nation, and was there not always in the back- 
ground the sinister shadow of England with its 
statesmen and literary men, "crying for the de- 
struction not only of the government, but also of 
the race," and Wilson, the ally of Asquith, send- 
ing the ammunition for the hated British, ammuni- 
tion shown to them and sold to them as souvenirs, 
reminders of whom they were to hate; and the 
masses of people after reading day after day of 
such things in their papers, did not think that such 



CONCLUSIONS 269 

might be true, they knew it and believed it as their 
gospel. 

When any one high or low dared to question this 
wonderful army they had spent so much time and 
money in creating and which had grown so fat 
and prosperous in peace time that it threatened 
to "bite the hand that fed it"; this army which 
had saved them from Kussia, and with victory 
after victory was punishing the invaders, such a 
one was threatened with or punished for a viola- 
tion of the Burger-Frieden. 

No one, I take it, would accuse the Germans of 
a fine and lively imagination, a keen sense of hu- 
mor, or a sense of what was ridiculous ; qualities 
which separate them as a race from the Latin, 
the Celt, or the American; and it is just the lack 
of these qualities that permits their blind patriot- 
ism to stand for the Belgian deportation, Witten- 
berg and the plague camps, Minden and Limburg, 
and the Turkish representations at Zossen. 

The learned professions with brains techni- 
cally trained, with little more power to think out- 
side of their own special grooves, and as easily 
influenced by suggestion as the tradesman or the 
trained mechanic, believe as implicitly in the de- 
fensive nature of the war in Belgium, and gas, and 
that the zeppelin raids and the reckless use of the 
submarines are justified to save the nation and 
their homes and their families from a nation who 
would deliberately starve them to death, as does 
the cab-man who drives you to the station. I have 



270 THE PRISONER OF WAR IN GERMANY 

faith in the German people and the German medi- 
cal profession. They have reacted to an abso- 
lutely controlled press, which after all molds opin- 
ion in any country, in the same way as would the 
people or profession in any other country. A 
mistaken idea of patriotism has led them to stand 
for things, which with full information after the 
war, they may he sorry for, without feeling the 
necessity of a public admission of how wrong in 
principle they were. 

In conclusion, I may restate that in a treatise 
of this kind, with so much stated in the line of 
destructive criticism as compared with the space 
devoted to the constructive side, a false impres- 
sion may be created. I would, however, refer to 
my statement on parent camps, that the majority 
of the camps were well organized and the comfort 
and care of the prisoner properly considered; 
with the single exception of food which in the 
British prisoner could be disregarded because he 
was fed from home. 

The one major lesson we can draw from this ex- 
perience is that in the event that we are called 
upon to meet the same problem, an inspection staff 
of trained sociologists and sanitarians should be 
organized which should preferably be non-military 
and therefore free from the necessity of covering 
up military mistakes, but which should, neverthe- 
less, report to the Secretary of War. The Ger- 
man Army had its own inspection service, which 
was inefficient and useless. 



V 



APPENDIX A 

(Translation) 

STATEMENT 

Concerning the Principles Observed in the Housing, 
Feeding and Clothing, as well as the Postal 
Traffic of Officers and Men Held Pris- 
oners of War in Germany. 

For Officers 

Housing. In general, the place of internment must be a 
healthy place, absolutely unobjectionable from a hygienic 
point of view with at least 15 cbm. breathing space per man, 
which can be aired, admit full day light and can be heated 
and lighted daily; as few officers as possible lodged in one 
room, separate rooms for older officers. Heat, light and 
equipment is furnished by the respective commanders, and 
is not at the expense of the interned. The following equip- 
ment is required for each officer: 

Bedstead with mattress, bolster, bedlinen and two blankets, 
chair or stool, an appliance for hanging up the clothing and 
a place for storing the eatables (where possible, closets, cab- 
inets or chests of drawers), washbowl, water glass, towel, 
table (a place at the table for each), pail. 

For attending the interned officers, men of the same nation- 
ality, also prisoners of war, are to be quartered in the officers' 
camp (approximately one man for 5 to 10 officers). This 
staff of orderlies has to attend to the cleaning of the clothes, 
living rooms, courtyards and halls, to the heating and table 
service, etc. 

Food and Clothing. As the respective officers themselves 
have to pay for their food and clothing out of the pay ac- 

471 



272 APPENDICES 

corded to them by the hostile country, it must be demanded 
that they receive on each day a sufficient and nutritious fare, 
the menu of which is to be as varied as possible, and this at a 
moderate price in order that means for their small daily 
wants such as laundry, etc., still remain at their disposal. 

Shower baths are given free of charge. 

At the present time, the moderate partaking of beer and 
light table wines is also permitted to officers. In the can- 
teens, the officers can purchase plain food-stuffs, excepting 
cigars, tobacco and chocolate. 

They may, however, let these eatables and table luxuries 
without exception be sent them in parcels, and the same must 
not be witheld from them for their use. 

Books and periodicals are permitted under censorship. 

Non-commissioned Officers and Men. 

Housing. General requirements the same as with officers, 
only in most cases larger rooms are used, in which a greater 
number of prisoners are quartered. The minimum breath- 
ing space for each man is 5 cbm. Sleeping accommodations 
consist of clothing sacks (paillasses) which are filled up with 
straw or wood shavings, for each prisoner two woolen blan- 
kets, towel, eating utensils. 

For each quarter the necessary tables, sitting places, linen 
and drinking cups, appliances for the hanging up of clothing, 
wall shelves upon which to place eatables and small articles; 
in each prison camp installation for bath and wash house 
for the cleaning of the laundry; sufficient lighting of the 
camps, electric light if possible. 

Food. To the prisoners of war sufficient plain food shall 
be given, which in its quantity and composition is adapted 
to such class of work, as may be required of the prisoner 
of war. 

Wherever possible, consideration shall be paid to the habits 
of living. 

The prisoners of war receive the same quantity of bread 
as the German troops lodged in civilian quarters. 

Three meals a day are served out : 

In the morning, coffee, tea or soup. 

At noon a plentiful fare consisting of meat and vegetables. 



APPENDICES 273 

The meat may be replaced by a correspondingly larger por- 
tion of fish. 

At night, a substantial and plentiful meal. 

Under any circumstances the daily fare must be sufficient 
for the proper nourishment. The commanders who are re- 
sponsible for the fulfillment of these instructions, conse- 
quently are authorized to increase the amount of meat or 
vegetables according to requirements; they are thereby placed 
in the position to better adapt the fare to the habits of living 
of the various nations. 

Continuous and careful supervision of the food under co- 
operation of medical officers is absolutely necessary; attention 
must be paid also to the fact that the fare does not become 
monotonous, but is varied as much as possible. 

In the canteens the men may purchase plain foodstuffs, 
articles for the care of the body, linenware, etc., at fixed low 
prices. 

Concerning the contents of parcels from home, the same 
applies as stated in the case of officers, so for instance the 
handing out of tobacco for use. 

Clothing. In the beginning, non-commissioned officers and 
men who are prisoners of war, remain in the uniform which 
they have brought with them. If the state of this clothing 
needs replacing the prisoners will at first be provided with 
proper articles of clothing from the booty of war. When 
the latter is used up, new suitable clothes are purchased. The 
kind of clothing is dependent upon the season, the climate 
and the weather. The clothing generally consists of a suit, 
necktie and cap, besides shirts, socks, warm underwear and 
good shoes are given as well as overcoats and woolen blankets 
to protect against the cold. 

Male civilian prisoners of war will be fitted out in the same 
way as military prisoners of war after their present clothing 
can no longer be used. 

The wornout clothing of female prisoners is replaced by 
suitable customary garb. 

Postal Traffic. 

According to new regulations now uniformly in force 
throughout Germnay, the prisoners may write a letter twice 



274 APPENDICES 

monthly, and besides postal cards once weekly. Officers may 
write letters of six pages, men of four pages. If special 
circumstances exist, such as the adjustment of family matters 
and urgent affairs of a business nature, exceptions may be 
allowed. 



APPENDIX B 

REGULATIONS FOR THE OFFICER PRISONER OF 
WAR CAMP AT BURG 

1. All sentries have orders to fire, without challenging, on 
any prisoner who attempts to escape. The space between 
the wire fence and the interior fence (Back of barracks 1, 2, 
3), also the space between barracks 7 and 8 and the wooden 
fence and the space between the little closet at the East and 
the wooden fence are forbidden. Every prisoner who tres- 
passes on the forbidden spaces is presumed to be trying to 
escape. The same is presumed if anybody leaves his room 
through a window except in case of fire alarm. 

2. Orders given by the guard or sentries or by officers or 
under-offieers in charge of prisoners must be obeyed immedi- 
ately. Disobedience or failure to obey orders or bodily re- 
sistance, etc., are punished according to the respective Ger- 
man martial laws. 

3. The commandant must always be saluted in military 
fashion. Every prisoner of war must when speaking to the 
commandant stand at attention. The same refers to conver- 
sation on duty with the officer in charge and the adjutant. 
All officers on duty in the camp must be saluted in military 
fashion. 

4. On the commandant, the officer in charge or the adjutant 
entering a room, all present officers must immediately stand 
at attention. 

5. All prisoners of war must always wear uniform. No- 
body must appear in the courtyard without headdress. When 
doing gymnastics or when playing games the uniform-coat 
and headdress can be laid aside. 

6. At least twice a day roll call will be held, once in the 
morning and once before closing the barracks. On the signal 
given (two strokes on the bell or signal by trumpet) the offi- 

275 



276 APPENDICES 

cers and men assemble immediately in their respective rooms 
and must stand by their beds at the entry of whoever is 
holding the roll call, so that it may be ascertained without 
difficulty and without loss of time, who is present and who is 
missing. No officer may leave his room until roll call is over. 
At a double bell stroke followed by signal on the trumpet 
the officers and men assemble before their barracks, arranged 
according to their respective rooms. 

7. The orderlies must perform all customary duties such as 
cleaning clothes and boots of the officers, making beds, clean- 
ing rooms, etc. Thorough cleanliness and order in the rooms 
must be observed already as a measure of precaution against 
illness. The junior officer in each common room is respon- 
sible for its thorough cleaning by the orderlies. 

8. It is forbidden to throw eatables, paper, cigars or cigar- 
ettes or their remains through the windows, on the floors, 
in the spittoons or in the courtyard. 

9. The room utensils must not be damaged. After use 
they must be always returned to their places, and must es- 
pecially not be taken from one room to another. Articles 
damaged or lost must be replaced by the one who is respon- 
sible. If the responsible person cannot be traced indemnifi- 
cation must be given by all the occupants of the room. The 
senior officer of each common room must convince himself 
on the first of each month that all utensils are present in 
accordance with the inventory. A notification in writing 
of the examination must be presented to the officer in charge 
by the third of each month in accordance with his instruc- 
tions. Should any articles be missing this must be clearly 
stated. 

10. By 9 A. M. at least, all officers must have left their 
beds, have washed and dressed. From 9 to 10:30 a.m. all 
rooms must be aired and cleaned and all beds made up. The 
officer in charge will on each occasion order when the rooms 
shall be washed out. The orderlies have to obey the orders 
of the junior officer of each room when cleaning the rooms. 

11. At night when the first signal is given by the guard all 
officers must go into their respective rooms. The canteen 
must be left by 8 o'clock and from this hour the canteen is 
not allowed to sell any more goods to the persons in the din- 



APPENDICES 277 

ing room or in the courtyard. No prisoner of war is allowed 
to sit down in the kitchenroom. Smoking in the beds is pro- 
hibited. If a bed is disarranged in the course of the day 
it must be made up again, if necessary, by the owner himself. 

12. The light may only be switched on in the rooms when 
the arc lamps are lit in the courtyard. All lights must be 
extinguished by the second signal given by the guard. 

13. Officers should remember to use the Abort before the 
locking of the doors. Night conveniences are provided in 
each barrack; these are not allowed to be used in daytime. 

14. Rubbish or broken glass (pot-shards) etc., must not be 
thrown into the Aborts standing in the yards or the night 
conveniences. The Aborts must be kept clean; the same is 
to be said about the water-pails and fire buckets in the bar- 
racks. They especially must not be used to urinate in. 

All rubbish must be thrown into the dustbins in the court 
yards, but tin boxes must be put well cleaned in a specially 
appointed place only. 

15. Prisoners of war who are ill must report to the under- 
offieer who will mention the matter to the under-offieer of 
the A. M. C. and the officer in charge, who will arrange all 
further necessity. The doctor of the camp is in charge, 
but officers may consult a doctor of their own nationality. 
The final decision rests with the camp doctor. 

16. All officers are to be inspected once a month by their 
doctors. The senior doctor has to report about this consul- 
tation to the commandant on the first of each month; special 
direction will be given. 

17. Every officer may have two baths a week in the rooms 
provided. Regulations for the use of the bath-rooms will 
be given by the officer in charge. 

18. Every prisoner of war has to give his money and valu- 
able papers to the eommandantur. This money as well as 
the money out of his monthly pay will be credited to his 
account. Any payments which may become necessary will 
be charged to this account. Besides this every officer re- 
ceives weekly from his account a certain amount in marks in 
accordance with special direction of the commandant, with 
which he may pay his special requirements, chiefly in the 
kitchen and canteen. 



278 APPENDICES 

Any officer who overdraws his account is guilty of breach 
of discipline. 

The commandant reserves to himself the right to prohibit 
the payments of any amounts of money, if any one is guilty 
of breach of discipline. 

19. The prisoner of war may write one letter or two post- 
cards each week. Letters and cards are taken on Mondays 
at roll call by the underofficers of the barracks from the 
hands of each prisoner separately. Pencil only must be used; 
ink is available only if it is a question of documents, settle- 
ment of urgent family or business matters of legal import, 
or of writing to authorities or of writing of war remem- 
brances. Should it be desirable in other cases to use ink 
permission must be got from the commandant. The writing 
must be done in large and plain characters, and for letters 
and cards only the forms should be used obtainable in the 
canteen. 

The correspondence with districts occupied by the German 
troops is subject to special conditions. 

Incoming letters and parcels will be delivered daily at 
hours to be stated. 

Parcels and boxes contained therein, especially the tin boxes 
must be opened and the contents laid open so that it may be 
recognized without doubt. 

Receipts of parcels and money must be acknowledged. All 
money is rendered to the cash office in the camp, where the 
amounts are credited to the accounts of the prisoners. 

20. Morning coffee is served at 8 A. M. in the rooms of the 
officers. At 12 dinner begins to be served, at 6 p. M. supper. 
A single stroke of the bell is the sign for the receipt of the 
meals from the kitchen. The lodgers of the barracks 6, 7, 8 
and those officers who are destined especially by the officer in 
charge will dine in the dining-room of barrack No. 5. The 
question of the seats is regulated by the officer in charge. 
All the other officers take also their dinners and suppers in 
their rooms. 

21. Except the time reserved for the meals the dining-room 
is open to be used by all officers. 

22. If an officer wishes to buy an article which is not in 
the catalogue of the canteen and which consequently may not 



APPENDICES 279 

be sold, or if an officer wants to get his clothing repaired 
or renewed, he must hand a demand to the under-offieer of 
his barrack who will pass this demand to the officer in charge. 
The purchase may only be done with the special permission 
of the officer in charge. If no other persons are allowed by 
the commandant to sell certain articles, i.e. booksellers, bar- 
bers, etc., the officers may buy these articles directly in ac- 
cordance with the further notification of the officer in charge. 

Letters written badly or illegibly are refused by the cen- 
sors. 

The dirty linen is collected and returned cleaned by an 
under-officer, specially designated for the purpose, with the 
assistance of an officer of each room according to special or- 
ders of the officer in charge. The cleaning is done at the 
expense of the owner. The manner of payment is regulated 
by the officer in charge. 

23. The prisoners of war act against discipline if they 
buy anything in the kitchen or in the canteen or from other 
persons admitted to sell, which is not specially allowed for 



24. Intercourse with civilians admitted to the camp except 
for business reasons is prohibited. 

25. The commandant's express permission must be obtained 
by any officer who wishes to obtain other food than that pro- 
vided officially. 

26. Every officer may subscribe to a paper permitted by 
the commandant. The under-officer of the barrack will make 
the necessary arrangements. 

27. When the change of the towels is ordered every one 
has to hand personally the old towels to the under-officer of 
the barrack who is collecting them. 

28. The orderlies in the camp are supervised by one or sev- 
eral officers, who are responsible for the cleanliness of the order- 
lies and examine the change of their linen. The officers have 
to hold a daily roll-call with the orderlies according to special 
instructions of the officer in charge, and to examine in the 
course of a week the cleanliness and condition of all cloth- 
ing. If renewal or repairs should be necessary in the clothing 
of orderlies a notification in writing must be handed to the 
officer in charge. 



280 APPENDICES 

29. Orderlies neglecting their duties must be reported to the 
officer in charge. 

30. Notifications will be made known to the prisoners of 
war either verbally at roll call or in writing on the notice 
boards near the kitchen. The officers are required to ac- 
quaint themselves with them each day. 

31. Complaints may be made verbally or in writing to the 
commandant, the officer in charge or the adjunct. 

32. Any infringement upon the foregoing regulations will 
be punished disciplinarily by the commandant. 



APPENDIX 

(Translation) 

REGULATIONS OF PRISONER OF WAR CAMP AT 
SALZWEDEL 

Section A 
General, Officer and Camp Duty 

1. The prisoners' camp is under the command of a com- 
mandant and is made up of two battalions with the usual 
complement of officers, sanitary officers, officer-representa- 
tives of commandant, non-commissioned officers, interpreters 
and sanitary personnel. The battalions 1 and 2 have each 
four companies numbering 1 to 8. 

2. The camp is situated on the road Salzwedel-Gr. Chuden, 
as shown on camp plan. 

The camp is spaciously marked off into two battalion dis- 
tricts and each of the latter are divided into four company 
sections. The following come under the jurisdiction of Dis- 
trict Battalion 1: 

Sections of Companies 1-4, 
Kitchen 1, 

Prisoner canteen 1 and 2, 
Guard 3 (at the rear of the camp) and 2, 
Bath-houses, 

Garrison administration barracks, 
Office room barracks, 
Coal and utensil barracks, 
Hospital and corps barracks, 

Half of the ways used by the guards — of Guard 3. 
281 



282 APPENDICES 

To District Battalion 2 belong: 

Companies 5-8, 
Kitchen 2, 

Guard 1 (main guard), 
Guard 4 (north side), 
Prisoner's canteens 3 and 4, 
Barracks for company held in readiness, 
Canteen for guardsmen, 

The other half of the ways used by the guards of Guard 
3 and the entire district of Guard 4. 

It is the duty of both battalions to keep the buildings, 
roads and fences within their respective districts in order 
and especially the latrines. The prisoners' barracks are to 
be numbered 7 to 48. The number must be black arabic on 
white background and each barrack shall bear the same num- 
ber on all four sides. 

The entrance gates to the company districts shall be num- 
bered similarly in Roman numerals. 

The office barracks of the companies are to be designated 
by letters A to H. 

The position of all barracks may be seen on accompany- 
ing plan. 

An officer will be detailed each day for camp duty by the 
commandant. 

This service begins with that of the new guard at 1 P. M. 
and ends at the same time on the following day. 

The officer detailed for duty reports at the beginning of 
his duty, without formality, at the office of the commandant. 

He remains in the camp during the night also and sleeps 
in the main guard barracks; as soon as the officer's assembly 
room is completed, this is for his use. When leaving same, 
notice as to where he can be found shall be left by him. 

Other obligations of the officer on duty in the camp are as 
follows : 

1. He inspects guard and sentinels. 

2a. He oversees and regulates assignments of detachments 
detailed to accompany prisoners. 

2b. He controls work hours of the prisoners and sees that 
they keep the prescribed time. 



APPENDICES 283 

3. He is responsible for general order in kitchens, canteen, 
bath houses and latrines of the companies. 

4. He is responsible for keeping free the 10-metre space 
(neutral zone) j vehicles are not allowed to stop there, nor 
objects of any kind to be deposited. 

5. He sees that no misuse is made of entrance cards, and 
that all unauthorized persons entering the camp through 
either mistake of sentinel or his inattention to duty, are 
located, and personality established. 

6. He observes the prisoners with view of determining 
whether there is any inclination to organize or to escape. In 
case of such, he reports to necessary measures (See Guard 
Regulations), and acts independently until the commandant 
or latter's representative assumes command. 

7. He also sees that the gates and fences are in proper 
order and that there is sufficient illumination both within 
and outside the camp. 

8. He takes the necessary steps in case of outbreak of fire 
(See Fire Regulations). 

9. He sees that the roads inside and outside the camp are 
kept in good condition. The representative of the officer on 
camp duty is the officer of the Head Guard, so far as guard 
affairs are concerned. The officer on duty will be assisted 
by an officer from each of the battalions who will report for 
duty at the beginning of the guard duty for inner service 
and for a possible revision of the guardsmen. This officer 
will be further required to make a daily inspection of the 
prisoners' workshops. 

10. He orders that taps will be blown at 10 o'clock p. M. 
following which all lights in the barracks are to be extin- 
guished. Lights in the quarters of the companies can be put 
out earlier if desired. 

Visit to the prisoner's camp is allowed only to the person- 
nel, i.e., to the officers, sanitary officers, acting officers, pay- 
masters, N. C. 0. men (and their superiors) of the Land- 
strum Reserve Battalion No. 6. All other persons, officers 
included, must have entrance card bearing name of owner, 
official stamp and signature of the commandant. This card 
must be shown upon entering and leaving the camp and at 
such other times as sentinels may see fit to request that it be 



284 APPENDICES 

shown. Entrance to courtyards of company barracks is for- 
bidden, except to those authorized (prisoners, guard and 
company men) unless permission is obtained from the repre- 
sentative of General Headquarters. The entrance cards must 
bear the photograph of the owner. 

Women are forbidden to enter the camp, except those em- 
ployed in canteen and kitchens. 

Persons found without identification cards or false papers 
will be at once taken to the guard house to have personality 
established (See Guard Regulations). 

Visit to prisoners (also to those in hospital) is allowed only 
on permission from representative of General Headquarters. 
Offense against this regulation will be punished. 

It is forbidden to photograph the camp or to make sketches. 

Section B 
Service Within the Camp and Occupation op Prisoners 

1. Prisoners come under our Martial Law. This fact is re- 
peatedly brought to their attention in presence of an officer 
and is also posted on the walls of each barrack. 

Disciplinary punishment is executed according to our Dis- 
ciplinary Punishment Regulations (Disziplinarstrafordnung, 
Par. 2, sec. 4 and par. 38). 

Strict discipline among the prisoners is to be enforced by 
using all legitimate means. Every infringement, against or- 
ders and rules of the camp shall be brought to attention of 
the authorities as soon as possible and punished with severity. 
In place of arrest, the offender will be bound to some place 
where he will be plainly visible. Light offenses may be pun- 
ished by increasing a disagreeable occupation and extension 
of working time. Withdrawal of bread and tobacco also 
appears to be a good means of punishment. In addition to 
these punishments, in the case of English prisoners, with- 
drawal of playing cards is recommended. 

2. Prisoners, including civilians, are formed into squads 
within the companies and are placed under command of a cor- 
poral. The squad commanders (prisoner N. C. O.'s) are 
chosen from among the prisoners (N. C. 0. and men) by the 
company commander. Their distinguishing mark is a band 



APPENDICES 285 

of white linen 5 cm. wide, around the cap. It is a part of 
their duty to maintain order and discipline. In each section 
of the barracks the senior prisoner sergeant is placed on 
duty for the same purpose; his distinguishing mark is a band 
of white linen 10 cm. wide, on the cap. 

The superintending personnel is assisted by interpreters 
who bear a stripe of linen running over the crown of the cap. 

The prisoner non-commissioned officers and sergeants are 
the superiors of the prisoners. The latter are made fully 
acquainted with this relation and the instruction is based on 
authentic regulations. 

Further, there is posted in each barrack a list of the su- 
periors in the language of the prisoners concerned. 

Prisoners, including civilian prisoners, must salute all offi- 
cers, substitute officers and non-commissioned officers. 

When an officer or substitute officer enters a barrack all 
prisoners have to stand at attention by their beds, facing the 
center aisle. Prisoners detailed for work or marching in 
closed formations are not required to salute. 

3. Prisoners of various nationalities are placed in the same 
barracks; Russians are mixed with English and French, Turks 
and Zuaves are sent to the Camp at Zossen. 

4. Each company contains 1875 prisoners. 

5. The prisoners bear a number on a tin tag which is at- 
tached in front of the cap; civilian prisoners have a linen 
band firmly sewed on the upper arm. 

6. Regulations and rules within the barracks are regulated 
by the battalions. These are issued in the form of barrack 
orders. A list of all utensils used in the barracks is posted 
on the wall. 

7. The battalions keep a correct list of all prisoners turned 
over to them from which can be determined at any time 
the total number of prisoners on hand, also any increase or 
decrease, and dates. 

8. The battalions must furnish a daily statement to the 
commandant showing the number of prisoners on preceding 
days. 

The roll of prisoners will be called at least once daily 
within each company, following which instructions will be 
given regarding camp regulations, military bearing of pris- 



286 APPENDICES 

oners, etc. Those prisoners not detailed for work are to be 
constantly employed at hard labor. 

9. A part of barracks 19 will be fitted up as a tailor and 
shoe-maker's workshop. 

10. Immediately after the arrival of new prisoners, the 
commandant will be informed as to the total number, nation- 
ality and regiments to which they belong. As soon as prac- 
ticable, list of prisoners' names will be made out. 

11. Money and valuables (booty) as to rightful possession 
of which prisoners cannot give satisfactory evidence, will be 
turned over to the commandant, likewise money of all kinds. 

12. Gold (foreign and German) will be exchanged for 
paper money. Prisoners will be given receipt for all money 
and valuables taken from them; the receipts must show as 
exactly as possible the kind of money (gold, silver, paper) ; 
day on which transfer is made will also be shown on receipt 
in order to establish rate of exchange. 

13. To meet allowed necessities, prisoners will be permitted 
from time to time to draw small amounts against their ac- 
count for which they will give receipts. 

14. Weapons, ammunition, dangerous tools (knives and fire- 
producing implements), also steel springs and nails, will be 
taken from prisoners upon arrival at camp. 

15. All clothing which would assist escape will be taken 
from prisoners and receipt given for same. Prisoners are 
obliged to furnish statement in writing that they have turned 
over such articles. 

16. Prisoners and all other persons are forbidden to smoke 
in the barracks. 

17. Prisoners are forbidden to leave barracks without 
proper head covering. 

18. Particular attention shall be given to regulations re- 
garding disposition of refuse, rubbish, food-leavings, paper, 
etc., and ashes. The latter shall be deposited in places es- 
pecially provided for the purpose within each company dis- 
trict, in kitchens and guard houses. It is forbidden to throw 
objects and fluids out of barrack windows. 

The battalions have to arrange with the garrison admin- 
istrative authorities direct for the timely removal of all rub- 
bish, refuse, etc. 



APPENDICES 287 

19. Cleanliness and order around water taps shall be es- 
pecially enforced. In cold weather waterpipes and taps 
shall be protected by straw or excelsior. 

20. Prisoners shall attend to their necessities of nature at 
the proper places and with great cleanliness. 

21. Communications between prisoners of different com- 
panies through fences, and visits to neighboring barracks are 
forbidden. 

22. Concerning washing and drying of same, each barrack 
will issue special rules according to construction of barrack. 

23. Two non-commissioned officers will be detailed each 
day for service in the camp (day and night). For the pres- 
ent they will sleep in the barracks of the emergency com- 
pany. Service of the superintending personnel will be regu- 
lated by the battalion. 

24. Bread will be received by a sergeant specially desig- 
nated by the battalion, by whom it will subsequently be dis- 
tributed to the companies. 

25. Coal and other fire material will be received by the 
garrison administrative authorities. Battalions shall make 
arrangements with former for delivery of such material, which 
will be brought by the prisoners to company districts. 
Stoves will be run by prisoners under supervision of the 
company. 

26. Turning on and off of electric lights will be done by 
the companies with keys furnished them for the purpose. In 
case electric light apparatus does not function, petroleum 
safety lamps will immediately be placed on the camp fences. 
The lamps are temporarily distributed as follows: 

In the principal guard and guard No. 3, each 40 lamps; 
in guards Nos. 2 and 4, each 30; and in the emergency com- 
pany, 10 lamps. The guard is responsible for the distribu- 
tion. All lights in the barracks are to be extinguished at 
10 o'clock p. M. 

27. Cases of death will be reported by the battalions (re- 
spective hospitals) as soon as possible to the commandant, 
giving exact details, including full name, occupation or pro- 
fession, religion, names of parents, last residence in native 
country, time and cause of death. 

28. Concerning delivery of food, see section C. 



288 APPENDICES 

29. Post regulations will be found in section R 

30. Instructions for keeping lavatories clean will be found 
in section G. 

31. Property of dead prisoners of war, also that of uniden- 
tified persons, will be turned over by the battalion (respect- 
ively the hospital) to the commandant who will deposit it 
for safe keeping with the General War Treasury. 

Section C 
Provisions for Prisoners' Kitchens and Canteens 

1. The feeding of prisoners is governed by regulations of 
the War Office, respectively the representatives of the Gen- 
eral Headquarters of the IV A. C. 

2. The operation of the kitchens is invested in a kitchen 
commission who comply with local conditions and manage 
the kitchens in accordance with regulations issued by the local 
civilian authorities. 

3. Constant attention shall be given to the proper number 
of calories of the food, also the albumen contents and carbo- 
hydrates. 

4. The chief surgeon of the hospital shall be a member 
of the kitchen commission. 

5. The kitchen contractor is forbidden to sell food to pris- 
oners or other individuals. The following are exceptions: 
Hospital patients, prisoner priests and physicians, provided 
permission is obtained from the commandant. 

6. A certain number of prisoners are detailed for kitchen 
work peeling potatoes, etc. The number detailed is about 
1 per cent, of the number of prisoners for whom the kitchen 
supplies food. Order and discipline are maintained in each 
kitchen by a sentinel. (See Guard Regulations). 

7. Prisoners take all meals within their respective barracks. 
Food, coffee, etc., are taken from kitchen to barracks in 
buckets and there distributed among prisoners under the 
supervision of the barrack superintending personnel. The 
strictest attention should be given to the proper serving of 
meals; for instance that prisoners do not use their wash 
basins as eating plates. 



APPENDICES 289 

8. Meal times are regulated by the battalions. For pris- 
oners who return from work later, meals are reserved. 

9. There are five canteens within the camp; viz., 1 soldier's 
canteen for camp personnel, guards, emergency company, 
mechanics working within the camp, and 4 canteens for the 
prisoners. 

Contracts with canteen owners are made by the command- 
ant. 

10. The supervision of prisoner canteens Nos. 1 and 2 is 
vested in Battalion No. 1; that of prisoner canteens Nos. 3 
and 4, and soldiers' canteen in Battalion No. 2. For this 
purpose each battalion has a canteen commission consisting 
of a captain, 1 substitute officer and 1 non-commissioned 
officer. 

11. All goods for sale in canteens shall bear prices plainly 
visible. 

12. Prisoners' canteens are closed at 7 o'clock P. M. 

Section D 

Occupation op Prisoners and Service op Accompanying 

Guard 

1. The fundamental principles are contained in War Office 
Order September 22nd, 1914, No. 471/9.14, U. I. 

The principle work of prisoners is confined within the 
camp, constructing roads and ways and keeping camp in good 
condition generally. 

In detailing prisoners for work, consideration is taken for 
their profession or calling, physical capacity, strength and 
condition of health. Prisoners shall not be compelled to do 
work of a criminal, but shall be employed. Strict observance 
of orders and obedience to same will, however, be insisted 
upon. 

2. For the various places where work is to be performed, 
the required number of workmen will report to the com- 
mandant up to 10 o'clock for work to be assigned for the fol- 
lowing day; the workmen will then be distributed among the 
battalions. 

3. Working hours will be adjusted by commandant's order 
according to the time of year and local conditions. 



'290 APPENDICES 

4. The accompanying guard will be under orders of the 
officer on camp duty, i.e., officer of the guard. This guard 
will be made up of men taken from the Reserve Guard and 
emergency company. The strength of the accompanying 
guard will be determined by the commandant. 

To every 20 to 25 men of the guard, a non-commissioned 
officer will be detailed. All guardsmen will be armed with 
rifles (9 cartridges each) and fixed bayonets. The guard 
commander will decide whether rifles shall be carried thrown 
over the shoulder or under the arm. 

The strength of the accompanying guard will generally be 
10 per cent, of the number of prisoner workmen. In cases 
where workmen are widely distributed and where terrain is 
very uneven, the guard strength can be increased to 15 per 
cent. 

Workmen employed in closed rooms and within camp can 
be watched by a guard of less than 10 per cent. One guard 
will be sufficient to watch four prisoners (outside of camp, 
two guards). 

On the march and during employment the guard will be so 
distributed that the prisoners will be continually in sight. If 
a prisoner makes an attempt to escape, the guard shall im- 
mediately shoot. 

6. The guard shall see that the prisoners work conscien- 
tiously. Tools and utensils shall be locked up in utensil shed 
after work. Keys to latter are kept at head guard-house. 

7. A guard leader will be detailed for each accompanying 
duty; he is responsible for the watch over prisoners. 

8. Any intercourse between prisoners and public will not 
be tolerated. The public are to be kept away from prison- 
ers at all times on the march as well as during work. 

Prisoners detailed for kitchen work will be watched by 
one guard to each prisoner. Guards on this duty will be 
relieved every two hours. (See Regulations.) When pris- 
oners are being transported through a city or town, the 
guards' strength will be 15 per cent, and shall be commanded 
by a capable leader. 

9. Guardsmen are forbidden to smoke, to sit, to converse 
with prisoners or to enter into communication with them of 



APPENDICES 291 

any nature whatever. Neither shall they take letters or per- 
form any commissions for prisoners. 

Their attitude towards the prisoners shall be such that the 
latter will not forget they are prisoners and that the guards- 
men are their superiors. The acceptance of gifts by guards- 
men is severely punished. 

Section E 
Sanitary Service 

1. The entire sanitary service is under the direction of the 
chief surgeon. The complete sanitary personnel, both Ger- 
man and foreign, are subject to his orders. 

2. The sanitary service is performed in the sanitary bar- 
racks according to orders of the chief surgeon. It begins at 
10 o'clock A. M. The patients of each company follow at 
intervals of fifteen minutes. The order of companies changes 
daily. 

3. The patients of each company are conducted to and 
from the sanitary barracks in closed squads. Each squad is 
accompanied by an interpreter and one of their own company's 
sanitary men. 

4. In order to establish a uniform service regarding ac- 
ceptance discharging and dieting of sick prisoners, the fol- 
lowing features are adhered to: 

a. After taking their noon meal, 12:30 o'clock, the 

patients are conducted to the hospital barracks where 
they take their evening meal at the proper time; 
they remain there until time for noon meal next day. 

b. Supplying patients with bread is a function of the 

various companies. 

c. Regulations concerning feeding of sick prisoners in 

hospital barracks follow later. 

5. According to needs of the chief surgeon, men will be 
detailed by the battalions from among prisoners to assist him 
as clerks, etc. 

6. The same regulations regarding entrance to the camp 
apply to access to hospitals. 



292 APPENDICES 

7. Personnel for running bathing and Heating apparatus in 
hospital barracks will never consist of German soldiers, but 
suitable men selected from prisoners. 

8. The chief surgeon will keep the commandant continually 
informed regarding health conditions in the camp. 

9. A suitable non-commissioned officer (German) assisted 
by two capable prisoners will be detailed to oversee bathing 
and disinfecting. 

10. Prisoners' baths and disinfecting of clothing, etc., will 
take place weekly. The bath schedule will be made known 
each Saturday for the following week. One battalion will 
have the hours 8 to 12 a. m. and the other battalion the hours 
1 to 6 P. M. 

Thirty-six men can bathe at one time. Duration of bath 
is thirty minutes. Accordingly 200 men can bathe in the 
morning and 250 in the afternoon. After one disinfection 
has been made, these numbers can be somewhat increased. 

Smuggling of food, tobacco, etc., to prisoners in hospitals 
is forbidden; also smuggling out of letters and cards of 
prisoners is likewise forbidden. All prisoner sanitary offi- 
cers, sanitary personnel, and sick must give their letters and 
cards personally to the non-commissioned officer of their re- 
spective company. 

Section F 
Postal Service for Prisoners 

f 1. Postal communications to and from foreign countries 
will be sent through neutral countries, viz.: 

To and from France, over Switzerland. 

To and from England and Belgium, over Holland. 

To and from Russia, over Sweden. 

2. All communications will be left unsealed. Letters, 
cards, packages must undergo examination by censors, the 
latter consisting of one substitute officer and several inter- 
preters. Communications ready to be forwarded will bear 
stamp of censorship. 

3. To facilitate quick control and work of censors, a uni- 
form card prescribed by the commandant, will be used by the 



APPENDICES 293 

prisoners. These cards can be purchased from company non- 
commissioned officers for the price of one pfennig each (See 
par. 12). 

4. Contents of post card must be limited to personal af- 
fairs of the writer (prisoner). 

5. Postal money orders intended for receivers in France 
must be sent on special form for foreign money orders, bear- 
ing address of Head Post Office, Bern (Switzerland) on 
front side, and address of receiver of money on the back, 
plainly written. Likewise for money orders intended for 
England, respectively Royal Head Post Office, Gravenhagen, 
Holland. 

In place of a postage stamp, the card should bear the 
words: Prisoners Communications — Postage free. 

6. The following will be forwarded free of charge: 

A. To foreign countries: — 

1. Letters with exception of C. 0. D. communication. 

2. Letters and parcels with value, but not C. 0. D. 

3. Money orders. 

4. Postal packages up to 5 kilos. (11 lbs.) C. 0. D. 

B. To points within Germany: — 

1. Ordinary letters weighing up to 50 gr. including or- 
dinary postcards. 

All other use of postal service is subject to usual charges. 

7. Prisoners are not allowed the use of telephone or tele- 
graph. 

8. In order to prevent congestion in office of censors, and 
delay in delivery, prisoners 2 letters and 4 cards each month. 
Cards must be plainly written and in good sized handwriting. 

9. Letters and cards must be written with lead pencil or 
copying ink-pencil — never with pen or ink. Ink, pens, and 
all pointed objects which could serve as pens must be 
taken from prisoners. Searches for such objects must be 
frequently made among the prisoners, 

10. Packages for prisoners of foreign origin will be handed 
over to the battalions by one of the commandant's orderlies. 
Packages will then be opened by the companies in presence 
of owners and thoroughly examined in search of forbidden 



294 APPENDICES 

objects (combustibles, knives, weapons, steel pens, etc.). 
Any communications found in packages will be sent to the 
commandant, after seeing that exact address of owner is at- 
tached. Such letters will then go to the censor. 

Receipts for money orders will be strictly controlled and 
stamped in office of the commandant before being turned 
over to the battalions. 

11. Letters, registered letters and money orders arriving 
for prisoners will be called for at post office by an orderly 
and taken to censorship office for examination. 

Receipts for money orders will be strictly controlled and 
stamped in office of the commandant before being turned 
over to the battalions. 

12. To facilitate quick delivery to prisoners, a French and 
Russian non-commissioned officer will be assigned for duty 
with each company. These bear a designating mark on right 
arm consisting of a yellow band. They distribute mail mat- 
ter under supervision of a post office personnel. To fur- 
ther facilitate quick delivery, each senior prisoner in each 
barrack has to keep a correct alphabetical list. 

13. Post cards for the prisoners are collected by the com- 
pany post non-commissioned officer and turned over to re- 
spective companies from where they go to censorship offiee. 

14. Cards from prisoners will be sent off ten days after 
they have been written. 

15. Letters bearing postage stamps will be retained for re- 
moval of latter in search for secret communications. 

16. Prisoners are continually advised to request their rela- 
tives when writing to always put company and number on 
all communications. 

17. Prisoners are strictly forbidden to attempt to forward 
letters through channels other than those prescribed. 

18. Prisoners shall use prescribed forms of letters and 
postcards. 

19. Prisoners shall be fully instructed concerning these reg- 
ulations. 



APPENDICES 295 



Section G- 

Regulations Concerning Cleaning and Disinfection of 
Water-closets 

1. The latrines of the camp are connected with the local 
sewer system. 

2. It is strictly forbidden to throw any hard substances 
or articles of clothing into the latrine trenches. 

3. The solid excrements must not be raked into the canal. 
The former will be removed once daily. 

4. The draining off of the latrine trenches is done under 
the supervision of a non-commissioned officer. 

5. A barrel of burnt lime (protected against moisture) 
will be placed near each water-closet. 

A scoop and bucket for measuring the lime will also be 
provided. 

6. Each morning and evening a mixture of lime and water 
(one part lime and four parts water), thoroughly mixed, 
will be evenly spread over the contents of the trench and 
then, by using a suitable wooden instrument, mixed with the 
excrements. 

7. The seats and floors of the water-closets are also to be 
cleaned at least once daily, using the same mixture of lime 
and water; for this purpose a straw broom is used. Paper 
and other refuse scattered about shall be removed. 

8. As long as the supply of chloride of lime, slacked lime 
and creosol soap solution (latter for cleaning seats) lasts, 
these may be used for cleaning purposes. 

9. A good supply of paper shall be provided in each water- 
closet. 

10. The garrison administration is responsible for carry- 
ing out of these regulations. 

11. The work as prescribed in pars. 6 and 7 will be done 
by prisoners under supervision of prisoner sanitary per- 
sonnel. 



APPENDIX D 

CAMP REGULATIONS OF THE CAMP FOR PRIS- 
ONERS OF WAR AT DARMSTADT 

1. Division of Prisoners. 

The prisoners of war are divided into five battalions of 
2000 men each. Each battalion consists of four companies 
of 500 men each. The company is divided into four pla- 
toons, and these are divided into corporal squads. The com- 
panies are commanded by an Offiziersstellvertreter respect- 
ively Vize-Feldwebel. The platoons are headed by French 
adjutants, the corporal squads by non-commissioned officers 
prisoners of war. 

From the ranks of Landstrum-Ersatz-Infanterie-Battalion 
I three orderlies are to be placed at the disposal of each 
battalion chief, and one non-commissioned officer at the dis- 
posal of the captain of each company. 

Non-commissioned officers prisoners of war remain the su- 
periors of fellow prisoners of their nationality. 

2. Characterisation of Civil Prisoners. 

Civil prisoners wear yellow bands on both arms with the 
/imprint: "Prisoner of war," and wooden shoes showing the 
company number and the number of the prisoner. 

3. Military Salute. 

Regulations regarding military salute are displayed on 
placards in all barracks. 

4. Division of Service. 

6 :00 A. M. Reveille, making of beds, toilet, cleaning of 
quarters. 
6 :45 a. m. Distribution of breakfast, company roll call, on 

296 



APPENDICES 297 

the assembly grounds under inspection of the non-commis- 
sioned officer in charge of the company leader. The prison- 
ers form in line in squads, the file leaders report the attend- 
ance of their platoons and any possible absentees. The roll 
of the prisoners is then read, and those reporting sick are 
noted (Sick lists). Prisoners must appear at roll call in 
clean attire. 

7:30 a.m. Commencement of the division of work on the 
assembly grounds of the 3rd Battalion. The camp officer 
takes charge of the supervision. Work is assigned in shifts 
lasting from noon to noon. Application for workers is to be 
made in writing or by telephone not later than 3 P. M. of the 
day before, at the camp officer's rooms. The labour company 
has to inquire the number of accompanying guards, of the 
camp officer before 5 p. M. The latter makes application in 
writing to the prisoner battalion. The men have to assemble 
for the division of work on the assembly grounds of the 3rd 
Battalion. The labourers are to be lined up according to 
battalions by the non-commissioned officer doing service. The 
camp officer resp. non-commissioned officer forms the individ- 
ual groups of labourers. Before marching out the labour- 
ers are to be examined as to whether they wear civilians cloth- 
ing underneath their uniforms, and on their return, as to 
whether they carry forbidden articles on them. After their 
return the leaders report their groups to the camp officer, 
resp. non-commissioned officer, and lead them in close file to 
their battalion quarters. Marching in and out, the coal-door 
is to be used. The camp-officer is required to keep books 
concerning the assignment of labourers. 

All tools are to be deposited at the place specified. 

Those prisoners who are not detailed for work by the com- 
mandantur, are to be provided with work by the battalions. 

Morning work to last until 11.30 A. M. 

12.00 noon. Dinner service. 

1.00 p. m. . The prisoners again assemble for work, and 
are detailed anew if necessary. 

6.30 p.m. Return from work. 

7.00 p. m. Supper. 

7.45 p. m. Evening roll-call and mustering by companies. 

9.00 p.m. Bed time. 



298 APPENDICES 

The non-commissioned officers prisoners of war may 
stay up in their compartment and burn a light until 10.00 

P. M. 

During the day no prisoner of war who has not received a 
card issued by the doctor may lie on a mattress. 

All the barracks are to be kept closed after 9.00 P.M. If 
a prisoner desires to step out, he must rap on the door until 
opened by the sentry. During this time the door is to be 
closed again. More than three men may not leave at the same 
time. The sentry will not permit scantily dressed persons to 
pass. The barracks are to be aired out frequently, if possi- 
ble during the noon hour. 

The cuspidors in the barracks must always be filled with 
water and are to be emptied often into the closets. By plac- 
ards attention is to be called to the fact that spitting is pro- 
hibited in the barracks. 

5. The Company Leaders. 

The company leaders have to see to it that the room in the 
barracks is used to the best advantage; it should be observed 
in particular that the various nationalities be mixed. 250 
prisoners are to be quartered in each barrack. 125 in each 
half barrack. The non-commissioned officers are to be 
divided among both company barracks, as well as the me- 
chanics. Greatest order and cleanliness must be maintained 
in the company quarters, and this, as well as the constant 
repairing of cloth and the care of the body, are the main 
duty of the company leader. 

Furthermore, the company leaders are responsible for 
punctual closing of the barracks. 

Money taken from prisoners of war is to be delivered to 
the battalion-commanders. 

The service of the company leader begins at 6.30 A. M. and 
lasts until 8.00 p. M. In case of the company-leader's ab- 
sence, the non-commissioned officer is in charge. Concurrent 
absence of the company leader and the non-commissioned 
officer between 6.30 a. m. and 8.00 p. M. is forbidden. An 
alphabetical list of the prisoners is to be started and kept 
in order continuously in each company. The company lead- 
ers must employ competent non-commissioned squad officers 



APPENDICES 299 

as assistants so that they may use them in file or squad- 
leaders. 

From time to time an unexpected examination of the pris- 
oners for prohibited articles should be made. 

Great stress should be laid upon the proper morning and 
evening roll-call, as well as upon the fact that at dusk all 
existing water-receptacles be filled and ready for use in case 
of fire. 

The company leader must at all times carry his revolver 
with him in the prison camp. 

One company leader to each battalion must remain in the 
prison camp at night. 

6. The Battalion Leaders. 

The battalion leader's first duty is to supervise the com- 
pany leader's services. He has to supervise the messing, the 
proper calling of the roll, the inspection of the barracks and 
kitchens, as well as the exact keeping of the books of the 
company. All half-barracks are to be inspected at irregular 
times. A list should be kept of these inspections showing the 
exact time at which each one took place. 

The battalion leaders are to test the food in their kitchens 
daily; in exceptional cases they can appoint a substitute 
(company leader) who tests the morning and evening food. 
The result is to be recorded in the kitchen book. 

The company books and list is to be inspected at least 
once a week by the battalion leader, and marks of inspection 
entered. The books are to be turned in at the commandant's 
office on the last day of each month, before 9.00 a. m. 

The battalion leaders have charge of the money taken from 
the prisoners, and are personally responsible for the adminis- 
tration of these funds. 

The battalion leaders have to see that the prisoners are in- 
structed immediately after their arrival that they are under 
martial law. These instructions are to be repeated monthly. 
An extract of the rules of war in question are to be in the 
barracks. 

7. Power to Inflict Punishment. 

The power to inflict penalties in the camp is vested in 
one of the battalion leaders. Slight infringement of the ser- 



300 APPENDICES 

vice regulations may be punished by the battalion leaders 
with rapport, penal service or the withholding of food. Rec- 
ords are kept of the punishments inflicted. 

Every prisoner of war detected by the sentry in the com- 
mitting of an offence, is to be reported to the battalion to 
which he belongs. 

8. Sanitary Service. 

The camp-doctor is in charge of the medical service, an 
assistant (unterarst) is placed at his disposal. 

The service in the quarter-barracks begins at 9.00 A. M. 
The sick are to be led forward in close file according to com- 
panies, viz. — Battalions I, II, III at 9 A. m. Battalion IV 
and V are 10.00 A. M. Sundays, the patients of Battalion IV 
and V are to be presented at 9.00 A. M. The bandages of 
the wounded are renewed at 11.00 A. M. Entrance into the 
quarters of the sick and wounded through door 2. 

In the case of sudden and alarming illness, the French 
sanitary attendant is to be notified at once, who will then 
take further steps. If in such cases a doctor should be nec- 
essary, the physician in charge of the days service on the 
drilling-grounds whose residence will be found on the slate 
at barracks 70, is to be called. 

The enclosure lying north of the quarter-barracks is for 
the exclusive use of the camp-physician. 

9. Food. 

One kitchen is intended for every two companies of prison- 
ers of war. As the kitchen personnel in each kitchen, one 
non-commissioned officer, two men (butchers) are detailed 
from the Landstrum-Freatz-Battalion, and if necessary 6-8 
prisoners. The potatoes are to be peeled by the prisoners. 
The food for the prisoners is distributed to them according 
to companies. 

The non-commissioned officers in charge of the kitchen are 
required to make use of the entire amount of raw material 
turned over to them by the kitchen administration, the only 
exception from this rule being the fat of the part nearest 
the skin. The same may be used cooked for the midday 
meal of the following day. Bread will be received from the 



APPENDICES 301 

Provision Station Darmstadt. Aside from the daily bread 
ration of 500 grams no prisoner may receive bread without 
permission of the Kommandantur. 

The men detailed to service in the prison camp have to 
receive bread from their companies. 

10. Kitchen Administration. 

The following are transferred to the kitchen administration 
for the prisoners camp : — 

One captain as chief. 

One captain as controlling officer 

One kitchen bookkeeper. 

Besides the camp physician is assigned to the kitchen ad- 
ministration. The chief's duty is to provide the necessary 
food stuffs in a competent manner and in due time; and on 
each Tuesday is required to submit to the Commandant five 
copies of the menu for the following week. Alterations of 
the menu cannot be made afterwards without the consent of 
the commandant. 

The duties of the controlling officer are to supervise the 
stocks, and to audit the books, of the kitchen. 

Examining Station 

The letter and parcel traffic of prisoners of war is subject 
to the control of the examining station. In the unpacking 
of packages prisoners are to be used as trustees. To re- 
strict the letter traffic the regulation has been issued that 
prisoners may only write two letters a month and one card 
each week. The writing in the letters must not be too small, 
and the letters should not exceed four pages. 

Before the mail is delivered to the examining station the 
company leaders are to see that on the designated days only 
the allowed number of letters is written by each man and 
that the words "Kriegage fangenen-sendung" and "Feldpost- 
karte" or "Brief" as well as the exact address of the sender 
(name with number of company and battalion) appear in 
their proper places. 

Letters, etc., may only be written with lead or indelible 
pencils. Prisoners are forbidden to use ink and pen. From 



302 APPENDICES 

time to time a careful search of each prisoner for such 
articles should be made. 

The guards are strictly prohibited from supplying the 
prisoners of war pens, penholders, ink and sharp articles 
with which one could write. This order should be brought 
to the attention at regular intervals together with the com- 
mand that any request of the prisoners in the above direction 
is to be reported immediately. 

The Commandant of the prison camp Darmstadt. 

Kosack, 
General Major. 



APPENDIX E 

(Translation) 

FIRE DRILL FOR THE PRISONERS OF WAR 
CAMP AT DARMSTADT 

1. A fire company consisting of a foreman and twenty- 
four men shall be formed in every battalion of prisoners of 
war. The duties of these fire companies consist in ex- 
tinguishing fires in the prison camp and prison hospital, as- 
sisting in emptying the burning buildings and aiding the 
wounded and those of the prisoners who are not able to 
walk. 

It is therefore recommended that the fire companies be 
trained and organized into two units, one to act as rescuing 
party and the other to aid in extinguishing the flames. 

2. The firemen will be chosen from among the ununiformed 
French prisoners of war and as a rule will be placed under 
the leadership of a French adjutant, who will also have a 
representative. 

3. There will also be detailed from each battalion of 
prisoners two non-commissioned officers and twenty men, 
chosen as the others from the uniformed French prisoners; 
these will be detailed especially for a fire in the hospital and 
to assist in rescuing the sick. 

4. The firemen of each battalion, as well as those men- 
tioned in par. 3, are to be quartered in the same barrack 
and this building will be designated by a proper inscription 
in red lettering. 

5. Each battalion will receive the following: 

a, One hydrant connection. 

b, Three lengths of fire hose, each 12.50 meters. 

c, A hose muzzle. 

d, Two hydrant keys. 

e, Forty-eight fire buckets. 

303 



304 APPENDICES 

f, Eight fire extinguishers (Pereeo). 

g, One axe. 

h, Eighteen fire extinguishing brooms. 

On all of these articles the number of the battalion is 
painted, and with the exception of the fire buckets and ex- 
tinguishers, they are stored where easily accessible in the 
room of the company leader. 

6. It is the duty of each battalion to keep their apparatus 
in good condition especially the hydrant, and to take care 
that the latter does not freeze in cold weather. 

7. The location of the hydrants are designated by the let- 
ter H painted in red on the side of the building, the letter 
being on a line with the hydrant. Should the hydrant be in 
the middle of the street, a red H will be painted on the 
buildings on either side. 

8. There shall be two fire drills monthly, one during the 
day time and one at night. These are conducted by the bat- 
talion leader, while a general drill of several battalions will 
be ordered by the Commandant of the camp. 

The rescue parties detailed for the hospital will also be 
drilled in their work. 

9. For immediate use in case of fire, three fire buckets 
filled with water and a fire-extinguishing broom will be 
placed in accessible places in each half barrack and for each 
two half barracks one fire-extinguisher will be supplied. Im- 
proper use of the buckets, brooms and other apparatus is 
forbidden: A notice in French to this effect will be posted 
in each barrack. Disobedience to this order will entail pun- 
ishment. 

10. Should a fire occur in a barrack, the French corporal 
will at once use the fire buckets and fire brooms and the 
French adjutant will employ the fire extinguishers. It is the 
duty of the corporals and adjutants of neighboring barracks 
to hasten to assist with similar appliances and all, in the 
interest of their comrades, to support the fire marshal. 

11. The fire department of a battalion will report ready 
for 

a, as soon as they learn of the outbreak of a fire 

b, at the special call of the camp guard. 



APPENDICES 305 

The firemen will assemble before the room of the company 
leader of their battalion with the necessary apparatus and 
await further commands. 

Upon a fire occurring within his own section, the battalion 
leader will assume charge without further orders and will be 
supported by calling upon the adjoining section. 

12. Should a fire occur in the hospital, the firemen detailed 
from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, battalions and the rescue 
parties from all five of the battalions will report for duty. 

They will promptly assemble in the central street of the 
camp in their own compounds and will be accompanied by a 
detail of the camp guard to the scene of the fire. 

13. These fire companies are under the command of the 
officer having the duty of the camp and in his absence under 
the officer present who is the oldest in point of service. 
The rescue work at the hospital especially insofar as it con- 
cerns aiding the wounded, will be under the direction of the 
chief surgeon of the hospital. 

The Commandant of the Prisoner of War 
Camp at Darmstadt. 

Kosack 
General Major. 



APPENDIX F 

( Translation) 

ORDER OF THE FIRE WATCH 
PRISONERS OF WAR CAMP, DARMSTADT 

1. In case of fire the guard will be under the command of 
the officer on duty at the camp. 

The duties of the guard will follow the details of the regu- 
lations for which he alone will be responsible. 

2. If a fire is noticed by a sentry in the prison camp or 
in the hospital compound, he immediately announces it to 

a. the camp guard 

b. the officer having the duty at the camp. 

3. The officer having the duty, or in his absence, the oldest 
in point of service, notifies the following by telephone: 

a. the commandant of the camp 

b. the commandant of the exercise ground for the troops 
stationed there. 

c. the officer of the Landstrum — reserve battalion 

d. the fire department of Darmstadt 

e. the fire department of Griesheim 

f. the Landstrum company lying in reserve in the bar- 
racks. 

g. orally the outer guard in the barracks at the troop 
exercise grounds by a messenger from the camp guard. 

4. So long as it appears that the fire will limit itself to 
a barrack, especially in the prison camp, these messages can 
be held up and it also lies in the judgment of the responsible 
officer whether the fire department of Darmstadt and Gries- 
heim, or only one of these, shall be summoned. 

5. In the guard-house there shall be a list which contains 

809 



APPENDICES 307 

the telephone stations and the number of the barracks in 
•which are : 

a. the fire department 

b. the rescue parties of the several prisoner of war bat- 
talions, and 

c. adjoining the telephone will be a list which contains 
the numbers of the three designated places. 

6. If the guard gives an alarm of fire in the prison camp, 
he notifies the fire department of each battalion of prisoners 
and calls the guard to arms. 

7. If it is a fire at night, it will be the duty of the nearby 
posts to immediately open the doors of the barracks in which 
the fire is, as well as those in a threatened position, and to 
gather the prisoners in the assembling place of the company. 

The guard will next dispatch thirty men to the scene of 
the fire to guard the prisoners thus set free and to maintain 
order. 

8. It is therefore understood that during a fire at night 
the doors of the barracks in general so long as they remain 
shut do not entail danger to the lives of those within. There- 
fore in a conflagration in the daytime the prisoners who are 
outside should be assembled in their living rooms to better 
maintain order and to lessen the service of the watch. 

9. If the guard gives an alarm of fire in the hospital for 
the prisoners, he informs 

a. The fire department 

b. The rescue parties of the fire prisoner battalion. 

The fire companies of the first four battalions and the 
rescue parties of all the battalions will assemble in the center 
street of the camp, within their own compounds, and will be 
conducted by a guard of thirty men to the scene of the fire. 
The fire department of the 5th battalion remains in readi- 
ness in the camp. 

10. In all cases, the fire department will be under the com- 
mand of the officer who has the camp duty, while the rescue 
parties, in case of a fire in the hospital, work under the 
direction of the chief surgeon. 

11. All measures in which changes are necessitated by con- 



308 APPENDICES 

ditions arising at a fire in order to bring about a closer 
watchfulness over the prisoners or to prevent danger, in 
so far as they are not provided for in this order, are left 
to the judgment and decision of the camp officer. 

The Commandant of the Prisoner of war Camp 

at Darmstadt. 

Kosack. 
General-Major. 



APPENDIX G- 

REGULATIONS OF BARRACKS 

1. Smoking in the building and any fire except in the 
stove within the barracks are strictly forbidden. 

It is also forbidden to enter the barrack with a cigar, 
cigarettes or pipe in the hand or the mouth, whether the cigar, 
etc., is lighted or not. 

The heating of the stoves will be done by those detailed 
for this duty, under the direction of the senior in the bar- 
rack. 

Cooking upon the stoves is forbidden. 

2. With the exception of the straw mattresses and pillows 
no straw is to be permitted in the rooms. 

3. In the morning the straw mattresses must be turned 
up towards the head and the bed-covers placed between. 

4. The gangways and steps must be scrupulously clean and 
free from obstacles. 

5. The wash-tubs in the wash house are to be used only 
for the washing of clothes. 

6. Nuisances must not be committed throughout the camp. 

7. The remains of food are to be placed in receptacles 
designated for this purpose. 

Wash water, etc., is to be emptied into the drains and 
should not be thrown in the streets or around the buildings. 

8. From nine o'clock on, prisoners of war are only to visit 
the latrines by the nearest path. 

Prisoners of war who after nine o'clock, without any valid 
excuse and without being accompanied by one of the post 
.are seen in a court, near the fences or on the roof or other 
elevation, will be shot. 

9. The lights outside of the buildings are only to be turned 
on or off by the guard. Inside the barracks the turning on 

309. 



310 APPENDICES 

and off of the electric lights is to be done at the direction 
of the senior. 

10. The possession of matches or any mechanism for mak- 
ing fire is strictly forbidden the prisoners. In the courts 
without the buildings, smoking is permitted and there matches 
are to be had. 

11. Doors or windows which are closed by the guard are 
not to be opened by the prisoners of war. 

12. The compound of the guard is not to be entered by the 
prisoner of war. 

13. Damaging windows, doors and mess gear, as well as 
defacing the walls will be punished, and the expense of re- 
pairing such damage will have to be borne by the men of the 
room. 

14. Mess gear and wash basins must be clean and must be 
kept in their designated places. 

15. From nine o'clock on absolute quiet must prevail in 
the compound. Every prisoner of war must be in his 
designated place. 

16. All prisoners of war owe allegiance to the German 
guard and the privates among the prisoners to their own non- 
commissioned officers. Members of the guard post and pa- 
trols are the seniors of every prisoner of war. Disobedience 
will be punished according to the German Laws of War and 
every prisoner of war will be punished who in any manner 
shouts at any post, sentry or patrol, and will be immediately 
arrested. 

17. All prisoner of war adjutants, non-commissioned of- 
ficers and privates salute 

1. All officers, including Feldwebelleutants ; 

2. All officer representatives (the senior officer of the 
large watch, interpreters, etc.) 

3. The Vizefeldwebel on duty on his first rounds every 
day and all corporals and privates have also to salute 
always the officers of the watch and the remaining 
officers on their first rounds each day. 

18. Every sick prisoner of war must announce himself to 
his company leader in the morning, who will immediately 
notify the adjustant on duty. 



APPENDICES 311 

19. No prisoner of war may have in his possession more 
than 25 Marks. Any sum in excess of this amount must be 
given over at the proper office for safe keeping, where an 
account will be kept. French money will only be changed 
by the pay master. 

20. Infractions against these regulations, or any one of 
them, will entail severe punishment on all prisoners of war. 



APPENDIX H 

REGULATIONS FOR THE SICK AT THE HOSPITAL 
FOR PRISONERS OF WAR AT DARMSTADT 

I 

Each patient must occupy only the bed allotted to him. 

II 

His state of health permitting it, the patient must make 
his bed on rising in the morning. 

Ill 

Nobody is allowed to lie on the bed with his clothes on. 

IV • 

Daily each patient has to wash himself, comb his hair and 
clean his teeth at a place appointed for this purpose; all 
necessaries will be supplied. Patients needing assistance 
will receive it from the attendants. 



Only patients being confined to bed and being seriously ill 
are allowed to use pots and night-stools during the day; 
other patients must go to the lavatory and also empty their 
pots at the appointed place in the morning. 

VI 

Cleanliness of the rooms is an absolute necessity in the 
interest of patients. The walls of the rooms and the utensils 
must not be damaged or soiled, and it is prohibited to spit 
on the floor. 

312 



APPENDICES 313 

VII 

Patients are not allowed to visit other rooms or the kitchen 
without a special permit. 

VIII 

As soon as a medical officer, officer or superior official 
enters the room, those patients who are not confined to bed, 
have to stand at attention at the foot of their beds. 

IX 

Smoking is prohibited. 

X 

Patients diet will be noted on a board at the head of his 
bed. In case of a patient having to make a complaint about 
his diet, he has to apply to the medical officer in attendance. 

XI 

No patient is allowed to let another patient partake of 
his meals or drinks, what is not consumed by him, must be 
handed to the attendants. 

XII 

It is strictly prohibited to talk through the windows, to 
spit or to throw things through them and they must not be 
soiled. 

XIII 

Patients must be in bed in winter time at 9 P. M., in sum- 
mer time at 10 p. m. 

XIV 

Patients have to behave themselves quietly at the hospital. 
Doors have to be opened and closed gently. Towards the 
staff a respectful behaviour is required. 

XV 
All prisoners of war are under German martial law. 

XVI 

Letters written by prisoners of war are to be handed by 
them, open, to the non-commissioned officer appointed for 



314 APPENDICES 

that purpose by the hospital authorities. Letters addressed 
to prisoners of war will be opened and handed to them. 
Darmstadt, 17th, September 1914. 

The Chief Medical Officer: Dr. 

RULES FOR THE SICK IN MILITARY HOSPITALS 

1. No patient can make use of any bed except the one 
assigned to him. 

2. On rising each patient has to make his bed should his 
state of health permit it. 

3. No one should lie on the bed with his clothes on. 

4. Each patient is obliged to wash himself, to comb his 
hair and to rinse his mouth every day. The place appointed 
for this purpose will be shown him and the necessary means 
supplied. Should the patient be unable to perform these 
services for himself, he will be assisted by the infirmarian. 

5. Only patients obliged to keep to bed and unable to get 
up are allowed to use the bed-urinal or the commode in the 
day time. All others must go to the W. C. With the ex- 
ception of non-commissioned officers all patients not seriously 
ill must themselves every morning empty their night vessels 
or bed-urinals in the place appointed for this purpose. 

6. As the cleanliness of the ward is necessary for the wel- 
fare of the patients all orders given for this purpose must 
be strictly observed. It is forbidden to damage the walls or 
anything in the ward or to write thereon. It is likewise for- 
bidden to spit on the floor or to deposit filth on it. 

7. No patient is allowed without permission to enter an- 
other ward or the kitchen. 

8. Whenever an officer or a military doctor enters the ward 
all patients, except those who are obliged to keep to bed, 
should place themselves in a standing position at the lower 
end of their beds. 

9. The dietary for the patients will be indicated on the 
card placed over the head of the bed. If a patient has any 
objection or complaint to make with regard to the food, he 
should apply to the doctor who has charge of him. 

10. No patient should give his food or drink to another 
patient or make any exchange. If there is anything left it 



APPENDICES 315 

should be handed over to the inflrmarian. It is forbidden to 
receive any eatables from the outside. 

11. It is not allowed to speak from the window, to spit or 
to throw anything whatever through it. It is also forbidden 
to commit nuisances either in the yard or in the garden. 

12. All patients must be in bed at the latest in summer 
time at 10 o'clock and in winter at 9. 

13. No patient can leave the hospital without the permis- 
sion of the head doctor. 

14. All patients are bound to behave properly especially 
to avoid making noise and to open and close doors gently. 
They should be courteous and polite towards the hospital 
officials. 

15. Smoking is forbidden in the rooms and in the W. C. 

Limbueg, Lahn. 



APPENDIX I 

(Translation) 

Armeb Federale Quartier-general, 

General Staff. January 25th, 1916. 

Surgeon General 

ORGANIZATION OF INTERNMENT OF THE SICK 

AND WOUNDED PRISONERS OF WAR IN 

SWITZERLAND 

I. Direction. (Management) 

1. The Surgeon General of the Army and the Army Medi- 
cal Service will have charge of the internment; the Surgeon 
General of the Army is responsible to the "Department 
politique." A control bureau will be organized in the Army 
Medical Service for the control of everything to do with the 
Interned. 

2. The Surgeon General will designate a certain number 
of districts. At the head of each of these districts the Sur- 
geon General will appoint a directing medical officer, who 
will be responsible to him for all matters concerning the in- 
ternment in his district. The directing officers will establish 
a list of all the interned in their district. 

3. The district medical officers will appoint for each local- 
ity occupied by the interned a "chief de secteur" selected 
from the interned under officers; he will choose as far as 
possible, the highest in rank, if his health permits. If the 
"secteur" and the district conflict — are identical, etc., there 
will be no need of appointing a "chief de secteur." 

4. The directing medical officers will designate for each 
establishment occupied by a group or detachment of interned 
(hotel pension, sanitorium) a chief of establishment (an in- 
terned under officer, the highest in rank whose health per- 
mits). The chief of the establishment will appoint for each 

316 



APPENDICES 317 

room occupied by several interned, a chief or captain of the 
room, or for each floor a captain of the floor. 

5. The ranking interned officer of the secteur is responsible 
for his men ("comarades") to the directing medical officer. 

6. As an assistant for the arrangements with the proprie- 
tors of establishments (proprietors of hotels, pensions, san- 
itoria, etc.) the Surgeon General of the Army has appointed 
Captain Dr. Sehwyzer, of the Sanitary Corps. 

II. Medical Treatment 

7. The medical directors will appoint the necessary phy- 
sicians for the treatment of the interned, choosing by pref- 
erence the military surgeons living in the place. 

8. The medical treatment of the interned will be established 
on the same principles as those in use for our own (Swiss) 
soldiers. 

III. Administration 

9. The Commissary General of the Army will appoint a 
quartermaster for the central administration. 

10. He will assign to each directing medical officer an 
accountant whose duty it will be to administer the district. 
The employe of the bureau and other necessary orderlies will 
be chosen, as far as possible, from amongst the interned, 
each in his turn. If amongst the interned there are none 
to fill these functions the directing medical officer will apply 
to the Surgeon General. 

11. Special regulations will be put in force for administra- 
tion. 

IV. Lodging and Subsistence 

12. The distribution of lodgings and subsistence should be 
as uniform and equal as possible; two classes will be formed; 
(a) officers, (b) under officers and privates. As far as pos- 
sible, the under officers in lodgings and food will be treated 
the same as the privates. 

V. Clothing 

13. The interned will receive from their respective Gov- 
ernments uniforms, including shirts, underclothes and shoes, 



318 APPENDICES 

(a pair of socks, a pair of slippers per man), in addition to 
which the tuberculous will have a right to a woolen blanket. 
To obtain these clothes the directing medical officers will 
apply to the Surgeon General of the Army for as much of 
the latter as has not been supplied. 

14. The directing sanitary officers will take the necessary 
measures to keep proper clothing supplied, for the laundry 
of linen, etc. 

VI. Pay 

15. The pay will be distributed the 10th, 20th, and the 
last day of each month, after an agreement has been estab- 
lished by the country of origin of the interned. 

VII. Discipline 

16. Concerning discipline in general, the regulations of the 
Swiss Army will obtain. Concerning the attitude of the 
interned towards each other, and the various ranks, (honors 
to be rendered, etc.) the regulations of the particular foreign 
service concerned will be observed. 

17. The country of origin of the interned engages to re- 
turn to Switzerland all fugitives. Switzerland reserves the 
power to use the military force to guard the interned. The 
maintenance of order and tranquility in the districts occupied 
by the interned is the right of the cantonal authorities. 

18. For the military discipline, the chiefs of the secteurs 
are responsible to the directing medical officers, the captains 
of the establishments to the chiefs of secteurs, the captains 
of the rooms and floors to the captains of the establishments. 

19. For the medical discipline, the attending physicians are 
responsible to the directing medical officers, and the per- 
sonnel employed in treatment and the chiefs of the establish- 
ments to the attending physicians. 

20. The disciplinary measures to be applied will be repri- 
mand, confinement to bed, serious notice, and finally the re- 
turn of the interned to the country where he was retained 
as a prisoner. 

21. The interned will not be permitted to leave the secteur 
to which they have been assigned without the permission of 
the directing medical officer. 



APPENDICES 319 

22. The directing medical officer will establish for each 
establishment a house rule and an order of the day. In this 
relation they will consider the mental and physical exercise 
of the interned. (Lectures, religious services, plays, prom- 
enades, excursions, etc.) For the spiritual side the clergy 
of the neighborhood should be requisitioned; where for any 
reason this is impossible, I ought to be advised. 

23. The frequentation of public places before dinner is 
expressly forbidden, at other times this may be authorized, 
except up to a certain point under control of the directing 
medical officer. 

24. For damages and breakages which are produced in the 
establishments, those who are to blame will be held responsi- 
ble to make payment from their pay, or from personal funds 
if this does not suffice. 

VIII. Relations with Relatives 

25. Correspondence between the interned and their relatives 
is authorized. 

26. The relatives of the interned are authorized to reside 
in their vicinity; meanwhile the collaboration of the relatives 
in the treatment of the gravely ill, or the care given ex- 
clusively to the same will be permitted only in exceptional 
eases, when these should be in the same establishment or in 
its immediate vicinity. The extra expenses will have to be 
borne by the relatives of the interned. 

IX. Post 

27. The interned will pay for their correspondence in 
Switzerland and with their own country (Treaty of Rome, 
Art. II.). The chiefs of the secteurs will place at the dis- 
posal of the local civil post office the necessary postal as- 
sistants, taking into consideration the number of interned. 
Each postal assistant ought to possess a card (Form post 
of camp 25a) which the directing medical officer should pro- 
cure. In case the office of postal assistant cannot be filled 
by an interned, this should be reported to the Surgeon Gen- 
eral in the regulation way. The postal assistant will collect 
and deliver the correspondence to the civil post office. 



320 APPENDICES 

28. As soon as each interned arrives at the place of in- 
ternment he will receive a post office card (after the formula 
F. P. D. No. 129/130) which he will forward to his near- 
est relatives so that they may be satisfied of his condition 
and likewise have knowledge of the address of the interned. 

X. Complaints 

29. Complaints should be addressed to the captain of the 
room, orally or in writing, and by him transmitted higher 
through the service (chef d'establissement, chef de secteur, 
directing medical officer). 

30. At each payment of compensation the interned should 
be asked if they have any complaints to formulate. 

XI. Reports 

31. The chiefs of establishments the medical officers and 
the Sanitary Service of the Army will keep a list of the 
interned. Instead of a "Controle des hommes," the directing 
medical officers and the Sanitary Service of the Army will 
be able to establish a list by card index. 

32. The registry of the sick, the histories of the patients, 
with temperature charts, are to be kept by the attending 
physician. Eventually the medical history of the patient 
anterior to his internment in Switzerland, together with 
whatever the patient may have in his possession, will be sent 
to me after the attending physician has made whatever use 
of them may be necessary. 

33. The listing of rooms and of beds is left to the directing 
medical officer. 

34. Every evening at an hour to be determined by the 
directing medical officer, the captain of the rooms, or of the 
floors, will make an inspection and report it to the "chef 
d'establissement." He will make a report, "Rapport des 
malades," will be transmitted the same evening by a mes- 
senger or by the mail to the directing medical officer. He 
will condense these reports and send his completed report 
to the Surgeon General of the Army. 

35. In case of special occurrences (escapes, etc.), the direct- 



APPENDICES 321 

ing medical officer is to be notified, either by telegraph or 
telephone. 

36. In case of grave illness or acute exacerbations, and 
in cases where it is not possible to carry out an appropriate 
treatment in the same establishment, the interned will be 
evacuated to a hospital where better care and treatment can 
be secured. The case in question if a fatal outcome should 
supervene, is to be reported immediately to the attending 
physician. 

37. The renewal of forms of reports can be effected through 
the medical Service of the Army. 

38. I reserve to myself alone the right to change any of 
these rules. 

39. The directing medical officers are responsible to me for 
everything included under the present rules of organization, 
as well as the previous rules and the order of the day under 
No. 19, previously communicated to all the interned. 

40. For any restrictions not included in the present rules, 
the regulations in Switzerland covering the same conditions 
will be alone taken into consideration. 

The Surgeon General of the Army 
Colonel Hauser. 

For the Observance of the Following: 
Department politique. 
Department militaire. 
General. 

Chef d'etat-major general. 
Sections de l'etat-major de Parmee. 
Representants des pays d'origins des internes. 
Medecin chef de la Croix rouge. 
Chef du service des transports. 
Direeteur militaire des chemins de fer. 
Chef d'exploitation principal des C. F. F. 
Direeteur de la poste de campagne. 
Direction generale des postes. 
Chef du telegraphe de l'armee. 
Governements eantonaux interesses. 
Medecin chef territorial pour lui et pour transmettre au 
service territorial. 



APPENDIX J 

(Translation) 

LIST OF DISEASES, LESIONS AND RESULTS OF 
WOUNDS 

Classified for Acceptance for Internment in 
Switzerland 

1. Tuberculosis of the organs of respiration, even in initial 
lesions. 

2. Tuberculosis of other organs (skin, glands, osseous sys- 
tem, articulations, organs of digestion, the urinary system, 
and the sexual organs.) 

3. Chronic constitutional diseases, chronic blood diseases 
and chronic intoxications (maleria, diabetes, leukaemia, per- 
nicious anemia, poisoning by chlorine, carbon monoxide, lead, 
mercury, etc.) 

4. Chronic affections of the respiratory tract (stenosis, 
marked emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, chronic pleu- 
risy, etc.). 

5. Chronic affections of the circulatory organs (valvular 
disease of the heart and diseases of the heart muscle aneurysm, 
pronounced varices, arterio-sclerosis, etc.) 

6. Chronic affections of the digestive tract necessitating 
a special and long continued regime. 

7. Chronic affections of the genito-urinary system (chronic 
nephritis, vesical calculi, hypertrophy of prostate, etc.) 

8. Chronic affections of the central and peripheral nervous 
system (hysteria, epilepsy, Basedow's disease, chronic acia- 
tics, paralyses, convulsions and other serious nervous states.) 

9. Chronic disease of the special sense organs (glaucoma, 
inflammations of the cornea, of the iris, the choroid, etc.; 
chronic middle ear disease, etc.) 

322 



APPENDICES 323 

10. Blindness or loss of an eye if the remaining eye does 
not possess normal vision. 

11. Deafness in both ears. 

12. Chronic and extensive, wide spread disease of skin, 
cutaneous ulceration, fistulae, etc. 

13. Chronic articular rheumatism, and gout with visible 
deformities. 

14. Benign or malignant tumors with marked disturbance 
of function. 

15. States of marked general debility as a result of age or 
disease. 

16. Loss of a member, in an officer or under-officer. 

17. Grave syphilis causing functionary disturbances. 

18. Anchylosis of important joints, pseudo-arthrosis con- 
tractures of the extremities, muscular atrophy, paralysis re- 
sulting from wounds caused by fire-arms and presumed to be 
of long duration. 

19. All the conditions (or states) resulting from disease 
or wounds, not contained in the above list, but causing an 
inability to do complete military service for at least a year. 
(Mutilations of the face or the jaw, the result of trephin- 
ing.) 

20. Isolated cases which cannot be included in any of the 
above groups, but which, according to the opinion of the 
Commission are of urgent need of internment in Switzerland, 
and in which the injuries or the disease present the same 
gravity as those in the other categories. 

To be excluded are: 

1. All serious nervous or mental affections necessitating 
treatment in a special institution. 

2. Chronic alcoholism. 

3. All transmissible diseases in the period of their trans- 
missibility (infectious diseases, gonorrhea, lues I & II, trach- 
oma, etc. 

Le Medecin de l'armee Suisse: 
Colonel Hauser. 
Berne, February 16th, 1916. 



APPENDIX K 

(Translation) 

Swiss Army Section du Commissariat 

Army General Staff 

REGULATIONS 

Concerning the Administration of the Internment 

op the Prisoners of War, Sick and 

Wounded, in Switzerland. 

Art. 1. Generalities 

The administration of the internment of prisoners of war 
is regulated by 

a. Agreements entered into between Switzerland and 
foreign Governments. 

b. The distribution which will be made by the foreign Gov- 
ernments for the pay of officers under officers and soldiers 
of the foreign Governments. 

e. The agreements made with the hotels, pensions, sana- 
toria, etc. 

d. The organization for internment in Switzerland of the 
sick prisoners of war and wounded elaborated by the Surgeou 
General, January 25th, 1916. 

e. The regulations as follows: 

f. Inasmuch as the present regulations do not provide for 
modifications the regulations applying to the Swiss Army 
Service particularly the rules of administration of 1885 and 
the instructions for the administration of the Swiss Army 
in active service, October 7th, 1915. 

Art. 2. General Inspection 

The administration of the internment of prisoners of war is 
placed under the inspection of the Commissary of War of 
the Army. 

324 



APPENDICES 325 

Art. 3. Administrative Organs 

For each region in which the interned exist, the Commis- 
sary General of War of the Army will designate one or more 
accountants (officers or under officers) assigned to the service 
of administration, of subsistence and accounts. These ac- 
countants are placed, from the point of view of the ad- 
ministration, under the quartermaster General at Berne. 
These officers will be supplied with necessary funds. 

Art. 4. Service of Control and Report 

The controls and reports will be carried out as follows: 

a. The control of men (account books) and copies of said 
control as a part of the monthly report. 

b. The daily report of the hotels to be recorded each eve- 
ning. 

c. The daily report of the region reported by the ac- 
countant. 

d. The daily report of the central Quartermaster of the 
internment. 

A copy of this report will be sent to the Surgeon General 
of the Army. 

The reports are to be made upon the forms ad hoc. 

Art. 5. Service op Accounts and Treasury 

a. The central quartermaster of internment at Berne will 
act as central accounting service for the internment of prison- 
ers of war. 

b. All the accounts of internment of the prisoners of war 
of the districts should be viewed by the sanitary officers re- 
spectively and should be accompanied by the individual ac- 
counts. These accounts are to be estimated for each period 
of payment up to the 10th, of the following month, with a 
complete general account, to the central quartermaster. The 
latter will examine it and transmit it within ten days with 
a recapitulation summary to the bureau of accounts of the 
General Staff of the Army. 

e. After an examination of the said accounts, both as to 
form and contents, the Bureau of Accounts of the General 
Staff of the Army will submit, at the end of the month, these 



326 APPENDICES 

accounts to the Surgeon General of the Army for vise of the 
total monthly accounts. 

d. The Surgeon General of the Army returns the monthly 
balances with the individual accounts and vouchers (controls) 
to the Department politique federal who will then transmit 
them to the foreign embassies concerned. 

e. The embassies give a receipt within a month from the date 
of delivery, and effect within the same time the payment of 
the amounts due to the Treasury of the Federal States. 

Art. 6. Advances and Payments 

a. The Federal Treasury at Berne will act as a central 
office of payment, upon the basis of a credit which is opened 
there by the Department politique. The embassies of the 
foreign countries will make their payments at this office upon 
the basis of the monthly balance of the different regions. 
The central quartermaster communicates to the "Direction du 
service de caisse et de comptabilite federale" at the same time 
that he reports his monthly balance, the payments made by 
the foreign countries. The central quartermaster directs the 
"Direction du service de caisse et de eomtabilite federale" 
to make the advances of the necessary funds to the account- 
ants of the districts. 

The Surgeon General of the Army vises the orders of pay- 
ment relative thereto. 

Art. 7. Compensation 

a. Officers, under officers and soldiers of foreign countries; 
the amounts paid by the latter and eventual instructions from 
such States make the rule. 

b. For the Swiss military service, the pay for active service 
will be the rule. Physicians who are not of the service and 
not in uniform will receive compensation based on actual 
service and time effectually employed in the treatment of the 
patients; at the same time they will not be able to carry 
on their account everything included, more than 15 francs 
for an entire day. It is upon this basis that their compensa- 
tion for a half or a quarter of a day will be estimated. If 
the directing sentry officers are not occupied throughout the 



APPENDICES 327 

entire day in the care of the patients, the compensation 
based on their rank will be regulated pro rata for the time 
employed. 

e. The sanitary personnel (under officers and privates) 
commanded by the Surgeon General of the Army in the dis- 
tricts for treatment and care of the interned, sick in the 
quarters of the personnel, civil or in the hotel, receives from 
the proprietor of the establishment (hotels, etc.) food and 
quarters and the pay of his rank, plus a supplement of pay 
of 1.50 francs per day. The Army will not bear any of the 
expense relative thereto. 

Art. 8. Payment of Pay 

The payment of compensation will be regulated as fol- 
lows: 

a. For the military of the foreign States, according to the 
instructions which shall be given by such States. 

b. For the Swiss military the 10th, 20th, and last day of 
each month. 

c. The sanitary superintendents and physicians of the es- 
tablishments will tabulate for their time and submit a pay- 
roll which must be vised by the sanitary officer who is in 
charge of the establishment. 

Art. 9. Subsistence and Quarters 

a. The interned are fed and lodged according to contracts 
made with hotels, etc. 

b. The Swiss officers receive a commutation for rations 
(fr. 1.20) and fr. 1.50 for lodging. (For the practicing 
physicians the commutation for lodging and subsistence are 
included under the compensation granted them as noted in 
Art. 7, b.) 

c. The Swiss underofficers and soldiers receive a commuta- 
tion of expenses for entire pension (food and lodging) up 
to a maximum of 5 francs per day. Under these circum- 
stances this does not interfere with the supplement of pay. 
Any excesses of this must be supported by themselves. 



328 APPENDICES 

Aet. 10. Accounts of Hotels 

The hotels return their accounts upon special forms, made 
up from the daily returns of the hotel, the 10th, 20th, and 
last day of each month. 

These accounts will be paid after the directing sanitary 
officer of the place has approved them. 

Art. 11. Compensation eor Travel 

a. The transportation of the interned ■will be charged to 
their respective Governments. The officers and troops and 
their baggage will receive the reduction of the military in 
times of peace (one half tariff). In the ease of transporta- 
tion by special train, the minimum will be 5 francs per 
kilometer. For private trips for the interned, a special card 
of permission, etc., by the directing sanitary officer is neces- 
sary. 

b. The personnel accompanying the sick prisoners of war 
are subject to the reduction of rate (one half ordinary rate) 
for the journey to and from the point of departure of the 
transport. There will be established a "vise transport mil- 
itaire" for these transports, provided with the seal of "l'ln- 
ternement des prisoniers de guerre," with the indication of 
the route of the transport and the date. 

c. The Swiss military will travel by order of transporta- 
tion under the general orders for the "Interest of the State." 
This order of transport will be stamped with the seal "Inter- 
nement des prisoniers de guerre en Suisse." 

d. The practicing physicians not in uniform, will be reim- 
bursed for the expenses of transport (cost of tickets) for 
trips connected with the internment. The tickets or dupli- 
cates are to be returned with their accounts, with special 
mention of the reasons and aim of the trip, and for and 
in the interest of which particular foreign State the trip was 
made. 

The accounts for the expenses of transportation by rail- 
road should not figure in the monthly accounts. The ad- 
ministration of the C. F. F. will submit in this relation a 
separate account to the central quartermaster. 

e. The foreign Government will make good in the same way 



APPENDICES 329 

the expenses of other disbursements for transportation; for 
example, carriages for the sick, automobiles, etc., "which are 
connected with the internment. The same applies to dis- 
bursements for postage, telegrams necessary in the corres- 
pondence within and outside of the country. 

These disbursements will be paid by the accountant of the 
district, to the debit account of the "caisse generale." The 
papers relative thereto will be vised by the Surgeon General 
of the Army. 

Art 12. Approval of the Foreign States tor 

Extraordinary Expense Occasioned by 

the Internment in Switzerland 

a. For administration and under reserve of Art. 11 above 
the foreign Government will reimburse the Swiss Govern- 
ment 50 centimes per day for each man. For the officers 
interned in the places treating tuberculosis the daily reim- 
bursement will be 1 franc. These reinbursements are to be 
carried in the daily balance sheets of the district (effective 
each day) and on a special form for the monthly balances, 
and ought to figure in the bank receipts as extraordinary ex- 
penses. 

These disbursements will serve to pay the expenses of ad- 
ministration (food, pay, lodging, treatment of sick, medicine 
expenses of doctors, etc.). If it be determined upon the final 
balancing that the expenses of administration are not cov- 
ered by these disbursements, the State concerned will re- 
imburse the Swiss Government the deficiency discovered. 

b. The foreign States will reimburse for the expenses of 
printing of material mentioned in Art. 1 d and e. 

c. The foreign Governments will reimburse the Treasury 
(Caisse d'Etat federale) for the advances made by it. As 
a rule the 10th, 20th, and last day of each month, to which 
is added the interest calculated upon the official Swiss rate 
of discount. 

As a point of departure for the calculation of interest the 
discount rate for the 20th of each month will be considered 
the discount rate for the monthly payments. 



330 APPENDICES 

Art. 13. Cash Accounts 
The accountants will keep two accounts: known as: 

a. The general account— binder which are included: 

aa. as receipts: 

the advances of the quartermaster: 
bb, as expenditures: 

the hotel account; 

the pay to the prisoners of war; 

the expense of transportation of the interned; 

the disbursements for tickets, expenses of 

transportation, letters, etc., of the Swiss 

military and the attendant physicians; 

diverse expenses and disbursements. 

b. The account for extraordinary expenses: 

aa. as receipts: 

the reimbursement of the foreign Govern- 
ments 

for the administration of the interned 
(Art. 12 a, b) ; 
the extraordinary expenses. 

bb. as expenditures: 

the reimbursenment of attending physicians; 
the expense for drugs, etc., (Art. 12 a, 2nd. 

line) ; 
the pay of the Swiss military ; 
the payment for food and lodging of the Swiss 

military, 
the office expenses 
Incidental expenses. 

c. For all disbursements the greatest economy is to be ob- 
served. 

d. For the disbursements of all kinds of the central quarter- 
master of the internment, he will report periodically an ac- 
count to which he will attach the necessary receipts and 
vouchers. These accounts should first be approved by the 
Surgeon General of the Army. 



Appendices 331 

Art. 14. 

A copy of these regulations is to be sent to and receipt for 
same acknowledged by each hotel proprietor, lodging keeper, 
as well as the officers of health directing such establishments, 
attending physicians, chiefs of the places and chiefs of the 
sanatoria, etc. 

Le commissarie des guerres de l'armee; 
Obrecht. 
Le Madecin de l'armee: 
Hauser. 
Berne, February 25th, 1916. 

For the observance of the following: 

Department politique federal. 

Department federal des finances. 

Department militaire suisse. 

General. 

Chef de l'Etate-major de l'armee. 

Services de l'Etat-major de l'armee. 

Representants des cantons ou seront loges les internes. 

Medecin du service territorial pour sa gouverne et pour 

la Direction du service territorial. 
Medecin en chef de la croix rouge. 
Chef du service des transports. 
Direeteur du service des chemins de fer pour lui et pour 

les administrations des chemins de fer suisses. 
Direeteur de la poste de campagne pour lui et pour les 

administrations des postes suisse. 
Chef du telegraphe de l'armee. 
Gouvernments cantonaux interesses. 



APPENDIX E 

(Translation) 

ORDERS FOR THE GUARD OF THE PRISON CAMP 
WORKING CAMPS 

1. Purpose and Duty of the Guard. 

A. To prevent the escape of prisoners of war, especially 
through measures which will prevent the attempt. 

In attempts to escape the guard can shoot. 

One call to the one escaping is sufficient. 

Individual sentries may interfere when necessary to pre- 
vent escape and at the same time they should conduct them- 
selves with tact towards the employer and his employees. 

B. To prevent disobedience of regulations by the prisoners 
of war. 

C. To prevent any intercourse between the prisoners and 
the public. 

D. To prevent ill usage of the prisoner by his employer or 
his employees. 

2. Strength op the Watch. 

non-commissioned officers. 

corporals. 

soldiers. 

of the Landstrum-Ersatz-Battalions 

3. Special Duties op Those on Guard. 

Those on guard are to appreciate the fact that the military 
authorities only desire to undertake the risk of the prisoners 
placed at work in private works in order to assist in domestic 
needs of the employer. The guard by suitable measures can 
carry out this wish. He can contribute greatly to the accom- 
plishment of this end by a tactful demeanor towards the em- 

332 



APPENDICES 333 

ployer and his employees and by means of just behaviour 
towards the prisoner. A prisoner of war cannot be com- 
pelled to work by corporal punishment and can only be en- 
couraged to work when the labor is made more attractive 
than the life in the camp. 

Prisoners of war are not criminals. Measures and regu- 
lations in connection with prisoners of war, which exceed the 
enumerated articles in Section 1 (Purpose and Duty of the 
Guard) are not indicated. Refractory prisoner workers as 
understood by the employer, will be sent back to the prison 
camp at his cost (vide par. II of the Labor Regulations). 
The special rules for the guard are in the main as follows: 

a. Watching the interests of the military authorities. 

b. Control of the employer and his employees in refer- 
ence to the labor regulations and especially in reference to 

Class of Work (Par. 5 of the Labor Regulations) : namely 
regarding the association in work of the ordinary laborers 
and the prisoners of war. 

Hours of Labor: (Par. 5 of the Labor Regulations.) 

Lodgings of the Prisoners of War: (Par. 7 of the Labor 
Regulations.) 

Feeding of the Prisoners of War: (Par. 8 of the Lab«r 
Regulations.) 

Begister of Work: (Par. 12 B-C of the Labor Regula- 
tions.) 

Clothing: (Par. 13 of the Labor Regulations.) 

Management of the Pay: (Par. 12 A, of the Labor Regu- 
lations.) 

Keeping of a Guard Book. 

c. Supervising of small purchases for the prisoner of war 
laborers in that the weekly arrangements will suffice. Arti- 
cles to be purchased are, namely, clothing, cleansing ma- 
terials, handkerchiefs, etc. The purchase of tobacco, cigars 
and cigarettes is until further notice permissible in small 
quantities. 

d. An identification slip of each prisoner of war laborer 
is to be compiled during the first week of work. The identi- 
fication slip will contain a careful description of the pris- 
oner. Each is numbered with a number corresponding to 
regulation number on the working list. They will be made in 



334 APPENDICES 

triplicate. One is for the commandant of the prison camp, 
a second for the police authorities of the locality, and the 
third is retained by the guard for their use. Samples of 
this slip are to be had from the Inspection Department. 

In case of the successful escape of a prisoner of war, the 
number of his identification slip is to be immediately tele- 
graphed or telephoned to the commandant and the police 
authorities. The capture of an individual should be given 
over to the police authorities in order that the guard may 
prevent the rest of the prisoners from seizing this opportunity 
of attempting to escape. 

e. Daily careful disinfection of the latrines used by the 
prisoners of war. 

f . All accidents to the prisoners within or without the camp 
will be treated similarly to those occurring to those belong- 
ing to our army, and the cause will be carefully determined. 
A short professional opinion from the surgeon will be ap- 
pended in like manner to the usual service casualty list and the 
commandant immediately notified. 

4. Sentry Houks. 

Relief I. From the Reveille of the prisoners to the second 
period of rest after breakfast. 

Relief II. From the beginning of this period to the mid- 
day rest period. 

Relief III. From this period to the evening rest period. 

Relief IV. From this period to taps (the prisoners housed 
in their barracks for the night). 

5. General Orders. 

Working with the prisoners is forbidden the watch and 
sentries. 

Watching the prisoners before, during and after work oc- 
cupies the whole time of the guard. The employer has no 
right to ask the guard to work with the prisoners. 

The guard should exhibit a firm, determined military atti- 
tude towards the prisoners without being overbearing or with- 
out reproving them by corporal punishment. 

Conversation with the prisoners unless it concerns duties is 
forbidden, 



APPENDICES 335 

The guard is not to allow the prisoners to leave his sight. 

Secretly supplying the prisoners with delicacies, news- 
papers, letters and especially dispensing alcohol will be pun- 
ished by a court martial and implies imprisonment and event- 
ually the penitentiary. 

The regulations of the camp relative to the mail facilities 
of prisoners are to be strenuously observed. All letters re- 
ceived and all outgoing mail of the prisoners are under the 
control of the mail censuring department of the camp. 

Sentries should have their rifles loaded and bayonets fixed. 
Immediately after being relieved they are to report to the 
officer having charge of the guard, reporting all observations 
concerning infractions, of discipline as well as all infringe- 
ments against the labor regulations. 

The men relieved from guard are as far as possible to 
hold themselves in readiness in their quarters to answer any 
urgent call. 

If a sentry for any urgent reason leaves his post, he should 
be relieved by the oldest of the guard. 

The guard can retire to their barracks at taps (9 o'clock 

P.M.). 

The sentries are to assure themselves that the doors of the 
prisoners' barracks are locked and that all measures have been 
taken to prevent the escape of prisoners during the night. 

Independent measures in this respect are necessary on the 
part of the sentries. 

General Comments for the Guard 

1. The inspection department of the prisoners of war camp 
of the 18th Army Corps has today transmitted the following 
to you: 

a. Descriptive Lists. These are consecutively numbered, 
the number placed in the upper righthand corner (in a black 
square). Each descriptive list is made in triplicate; one, 
the best copy, is sent to the police authorities of the district, 
the second remains in the book and a third copy on thick 
paper is sent to the office of the commandant of the camp. 
The copies given to the police authorities and to the com- 
mandant are assembled and placed in a folder which bears 
the name of the firm employing the prisoners. 



336 APPENDICES 

It is requested that these descriptive lists be carefully 
guarded as only by means of these can a prisoner with any 
surety be apprehended. 

In making out these papers a sharp pointed hard pencil 
is to be used. 

b. Guard Instructions. Naturally guard instructions in 
general cannot anticipate special needs of the watch. In 
general the inspection will post one sentry at night since it 
would demand too many men to have the usual posts. It is 
recommended that in order to replace the posts the police 
authorities and the civil nightwatchman of the factory co- 
ordinate to secure the best measures to prevent the escape 
of the prisoners without calling upon the military authori- 
ties. The sentries must assure themselves that the windows 
and doors of the barracks are closed and all measures taken 
to prevent the escape of the prisoners during the night.. 

The guard must also assure themselves that no prisoner has 
any money and that they have no civilian clothing in their 
possession concealed under the prisoner's uniform or hidden 
in his bed. Intimate relations between the guard and the 
prisoners as well as between laborers and prisoners are to 
be avoided from patriotic reasons, since they must invariably 
lead to attempts at escape. 

Intimate relations between laborers and prisoners have this 
further disadvantage in that they may lead to intrigues in 
the traffic of mail. The guard should be aware that through 
the publication of military conditions in Germany and exag- 
gerations of conditions existing in the prison camps great 
injustice to the German cause can be done in our enemy's 
countries. The ordinary laborers will therefore observe that 
by their attitude and in their association they can be of 
use in the management of prisoners. 

It should be made clear to the prisoner who is employed 
in work that in escaping, outside of the resulting punishment 
he will never be permitted to work on the outside again, but 
will be restricted to the prison camp. 

In case of attempts at escape or misbehaviour he will be 
confined where he is until he can be confined in the prison 
camp. 

The Inspection Department will appreciate it if notice of 



APPENDICES 337 

any unusual conditions is brought to its attention by the 
guard, either by telephone or in writing. 

If the prisoners work in civilian clothes, they must be sup- 
plied by the commandant of the camp with a yellow arm 
band which has the words: "Prisoner of War" printed on it. 
These arm-bands are to be fastened to the left sleeve. 

To avoid inducements to attempt an outbreak by means of 
other opportunities, the representative of the General Com- 
mand of the 18th Army Corps has issued the following, Sec- 
tion 5, Number 31988: 

1. That the rifles of the guard under no circumstances 
shall be placed where they are accessible to the prisoners. 

2. That there shall be telephonic communication between 
the camp guard and the nearest place where troops are quar- 
tered. 

3. That those not standing guard must always be pre- 
pared to quickly support the sentries. 

4. That the messing of the guard particularly the morning 
and the evening meals shall be so arranged that they will be 
supplied to the personnel of the watch. 

5. It seems important to the Inspection that the watch im- 
mediately after their arrival at the place of work should per- 
sonally confer with the police authorities in order to facilitate 
the apprehension of those escaping and to co-operate in 
measures to prevent escape. It is also important for the 
guard to acquaint themselves with the address of the near- 
est one who has charge of the police dogs in order to secure 
his co-operation. 

c. List of Work. These lists will be made out under the 
supervision of the guard by a skilled operator of the employer. 
The amount of the compensation is left to the discretion of 
the guard. This amount is paid through the guard and not 
by the employer in order to assist the paymaster in his 
accounts with the individual prisoners. A "lazy fellow" re- 
ceives nothing; a diligent prisoner receives up to 50 pfen- 
nigs a day. This 50 pfg. is paid in part in ready cash and 
the remainder will be paid on the release of the prisoner. 
The War Department has not yet fully decided how much of 
the income derived from their work will later be paid to the 
prisoners. 



338 APPENDICES 

The Inspection will pay these prisoner laborers with 
cheeks instead of actual money; these checks are similar to 
accident insurance slips and are bound in a check book. 
These checks will be paid only at the pay office of the camp. 
The prisoners will thus have money, namely the checks, which 
will not be in actual cash and cannot be used in an attempt 
at flight. 

The sentries can accomplish their tasks if they at all times 
conduct themselves with tact towards the prisoners as well 
as towards the employer and perform their work with a 
strict sense of duty. They must therefore show the best 
example of being punctual, watchful, diligent, just and sober. 
In this way can they show a service to the fatherland which 
to-day every honorable German is prepared to show. 

d. Pay List. The pay list will be under the direction of 
the guard. The guard will prepare a daily list, Sundays in- 
cluded, which includes the names of all the guard. The 
weekly pay of the guard will be reckoned from this list and 
will be included by the employer in the total amounts at each 
place of work. The place of work pays each of the guard 
in the most convenient way. 

2. The Inspection desires that the guard be changed as little 
as possible, i.e., that they will be relieved by the Landstrum 
battalion only in urgent cases. Only in this way can the 
purpose of the work be carried out as desired by the em- 
ployer and the commandant of the camp. It is a well known 
fact that guards of civil prisoners are never changed. Why 
should not a like principle be applied to prisoners of war? 

If a guard does not perform his full duty, he must be 
immediately relieved. 

3. In all cases of doubt and in all difficulties arising the 
guard shall employ the telephone to the Inspector Depart- 
ment and ask concerning the same. The telephone shall also 
be employed when questions arise concerning a stubborn em- 
ployer, a suspicious case of an attempt at escape, concerning 
a lazy prisoner or one who is sick. 

The Inspection Department desires these inquiries. The tele- 
phone number is Frankfurt A. M. Station "Taunus." No. 3280. 
By command (Signed) Schenck, 

First Lieutenant. 



APPENDIX M 

Report of Major C. B. V >, 1st Cameronians 

(Scottish Rifles), Attached to the 
Cheshire Regimekt 

I was taken prisoner on the 13th October, 1914, close to 
La Bassee in France by the Prussian Guard Cavalry. I my- 
self, personally, was treated well by this corps, and was given 
food and shelter, but the other officers and men who were in 
charge of the same guard were not treated so well, they being 
given no food and being confined in a church until the morn- 
ing. I am sure that the treatment which I received was with 
the hope of getting information out of me. I was bombarded 
with numberless inquiries, especially with the alleged use by 
the British of dum-dum bullets, and as to the state of the 
British army. 

On the morning of the 14th, I was fallen in with four other 
British officers and about 200 men, and was marched to Lens. 
Here a halt was made, and I pointed out that I was wounded 
in the leg; I could not march any further. I was then taken 
on the Douay in a motor, the remainder of the prisoners fol- 
lowing by road (a considerable distance). 

At Douay I was detained on the square in front of the 
Hotel de Ville with a sentry over me, and was subjected to 
continual abuse and revilement. On the arrival of the other 
prisoners we were all confined in a large shed for the night. 
No food, except a little provided by the French Red Cross 
Society, was given, also no straw, and we spent a terrible 
night there, men being obliged to walk about all night to keep 
warm as their greatcoats had been taken from them. 

On the 17th, October, in the morning, the French Red 
Cross people gave us what they could in food, and did their 
very best, in spite of opposition from the Germans. At 

339 



340 APPENDICES 

about 2 p. M. on the same day we were all marched off to the 
railway station, being reviled at and eursed all the way by 
German officers as well as by German soldiers. One of our 
officers was spat on by a German officer. 

At the station we were driven into closed-in wagons, from 
which horses had just been removed, fifty-two men being 
crowded into the one in which the other four officers and 
myself were. So tight were we packed, that there was only 
room enough for some of us to sit down on the floor. This 
floor was covered fully three inches deep in fresh manure, and 
the stench of horse urine was almost asphyxiating. We were 
boxed up in this foul wagon, with practically no ventilation 
for thirty hours, with no food, and no opportunity of attend- 
ing to purposes of nature. All along the line we were cursed 
by officers and soldiers alike at the various stations, and at 
Mons Bergen I was pulled out in front of the wagon by the 
order of the officer in charge of the station, and, after curs- 
ing me in filthy language for some ten minutes, he ordered 
one of his soldiers to kick me back into the wagon, which he 
did, sending me sprawling into the filthy mess at the bottom 
of the wagon. I should like to mention here that I am thor- 
oughly conversant with German, and understood everything 
that was said. Only at one station on the road was any at- 
tempt made on the part of German officers to interfere, and 
stop their men from cursing us. This officer appeared to be 
sorry for the sad plight which we were in. I should also 
like to mention that two men of the German Guard also ap- 
peared to be sympathetic and sorry for us; but they were 
able to do little or nothing to protect us. 

Up to this time I had managed to retain my overcoat, 
but it was now forcibly taken from me by an officer at a few 
stations further on. 

On reaching the German-Belgian frontier, the French pris- 
oners were given some potato soup. The people in charge of 
it told us that none of it was for us, but that if any was 
left over after the French had been fed we should get what 
remained. This is in accordance with the general treatment 
of British prisoners by the Germans, who always endeavour to 
attend to our necessities last, and to put us to as much in- 
convenience and ill-treatment as possible. We subsequently 



APPENDICES 341 

got a little soup and a few slices of bread amongst twenty- 
five British prisoners in the same wagon with me. 

On the 18th, October, early, we arrived at Cologne, and the 
four officers and myself were removed from the wagon, and, 
after some delay, sent on to Crefeld. 

I said that fifty-two prisoners were in the wagon with me 
when we left Douay. These were: (here follow the names of 
four officers), myself, fifteen English soldiers and 32 French 
civilians of all grades of society. It is difficult to indicate 
or give a proper idea of the indescribably wretched condition 
which we were in after being starved and confined in the 
manner stated for three days and three nights. As is well 
known, one of these wagons is considered to be able to ac- 
commodate six horses or forty men, and this only with the 
doors open so as to admit of ventilation. What with the 
filth of the interior, the number of people confined in it, 
and the absence of ventilation, it seemed to recall something 
of what one had read of the Black Hole of Calcutta. To give 
an idea of the state of mind to which we have been reduced, 
I got one of the better-class French prisoners to secrete a 
letter to my wife in the hope that he might be able to get it 
out to her when he reached his destination, as these French 
civilian prisoners were being treated better than ourselves. 
They all expressed great pity for the way in which we were 
being treated. 

I found out that the wagon in front of us was full up with 
English soldiers. This particular wagon had no ventilation 
slit of any sort or description, and men were crowded into 
this even worse than they were in the wagon in which I was. 
They banged away continually on the wooden sides of the 
van, and finally, as I supposed the Germans thought that 
they might be suffocated, a carpenter was got, who cut a 
small round hole in one of the sides. 

I am strongly of opinion myself that this brutal treatment 
of British officers and men on their way to a place of intern- 
ment is deliberately arranged for by superior authority with 
the object of making us as miserable and despicable objects 
as possible. The French officers were treated quite differ- 
ently. 
1 On arrival at Crefeld our treatment improved. We (that 



342 APPENDICES 

is, the five officers) were placed in a barrack room which was 
intended to accommodate six people. We found there were 
already in the building ten other British officers. 

The following is a short statement of how the imprisoned 
officers were treated at Crefeld, and it will be seen that there 
was not so much to complain of here. 

Our daily routine was generally as follows: 

8 A. M. Roll call. 

8.15 A. M. Breakfast, which was served in two detach- 
ments as the feeding arrangements only admitted of half the 
officers taking meals at one time. Breakfast consisted of 
poor coffee with milk, bread and margarine. 

11.45 A. M. and 1.15 p. M. Dinner. This was also served 
in two detachments. It consisted of very poor soup, being 
the water in which our meat was cooked; meat generally 
pork, with potatoes and sauerkraut, but once a week we had 
beef and very occasionally mutton; vegetables have also been 
supplied latterly after continued complaint. 

6.45 and 8 p. M. The evening meal took place, and con- 
sisted, as a rule, of slices of sausages with bread and margar- 
ine, and coffee. 

9.30 p. M. Evening roll call, after which we had to go to 
our rooms. 

10.45 p. m. Lights were ordered to be put out. 

As regards recreation, we were allowed to make use of the 
gravel quadrangle inside the barracks, and we were also able 
to secure a foot ball. By walking round and round the 
quadrangle we were able to keep ourselves reasonably fit. 
The quadrangle was some 70-80 yards long and 60 yards 
wide, and surrounded by buildings three or four stories high 
on two sides. On one of its sides was the stabling. 

No recreation rooms were provided, but we were allowed 
to use the dining-hall after meals had been cleared away. 

For servants, we had French, Russian and British impris- 
oned soldiers, one orderly to every fifteen officers for the 
purpose of keeping the rooms clean. Most of the rooms in 
which we were housed were capable of accommodating six 
soldiers. In most cases seven or eight officers were put into 
them. Officers had to make their own beds and brush their 



APPENDICES 343 

own boots in nearly all cases. The beds we slept on were as 
provided for the German soldiers, and were very hard and 
uncomfortable, and I found it difficult to get any real rest 
on them. 

A canteen was provided at the barracks, at which we were 
able to purchase foodstuffs and necessary clothing, which was 
run by the Germans. We could also obtain mineral waters. 
No alcoholic drinks of any sort or beer were permitted. 

As regards pay, a subaltern received 60 M., an officer senior 
to this rank 100 M. per month. As 2 M. per diem were 
charged for the food supplied, it will be seen that subalterns 
never actually handled any of this pay. We were permitted 
to receive money from England, but were not allowed to have 
in our possession more that 100 M. at a time. 

With respect to religious matters, a Lutheran parson came 
to visit us and asked to hold services, and did so for one or 
two Sundays; but he made so many unpleasant remarks about 

the late King and the British that decided that we 

should hold our own services. I heard that the Roman Cath- 
olic priest who came to visit also was a man of quite a differ- 
ent stamp. 

I would especially call attention to the barbarous way in 
which British soldiers are being treated in the various laagers 
by the Germans. The information given below has been ob- 
tained from the British orderlies who came to Crefeld as ser- 
vants, and also from English and French medical officers 
who had been in the camps, which in many cases were com- 
posed of tents. The men all had their greatcoats — and in 
many eases their tunics as well — and their money taken away 
from them, and are in great need of clothing, and particu- 
larly underclothing. It appears that the Germans supplied 
them with wooden clogs when boots were worn out. The 
men state that they slept on straw, which had not been 
changed for months, and was quite sodden and rotten. All 
the men who came as orderlies were crawling in rermin and 
half of them were suffering from the itch. The medical offi- 
cer had to isolate these men before they could be employed 
as servants. I was also informed by them that the feeding 
arrangements for the British soldier were very bad indeed, 



344 APPENDICES 

and as the men had no money to supplement their rations 
they were in a half starved condition, which their appear- 
ance corroborated. 

I should like to mention that I sent a letter to the For- 
eign Office secretly, some three weeks ago, about the way in 
which the men were treated, giving the name of a witness 
who is now in France. I hear that this letter reached its 
destination. In my opinion I think something should be 
urgently done to try to ameliorate the lot of the British 
soldier who is a prisoner in Germany. 

It is also a fact that the British soldiers are used solely 
for all menial duties and dirty work connected with the 
camps, such as cleaning out latrines and such-like; also every 
other unpleasant fatigue duty. In connection with this the 
French orderlies at Crefeld stated to me that they were very 
sorry indeed to see the British soldier treated in such an 
ignoble and disgraceful manner, being, in fact, more like 
slaves, the idea being to create ill-feeling between the French 
and British soldiers by this means. 

I also wish to state that who arrived at Crefeld about 

December, told me that all the Irishmen at his camp (I think, 

but am not sure, that it was ) were collected together 

shortly before he left, and were harangued by the commandant 
who stated that the Emperor was aware of the downtrodden 
state of Ireland, and now wished that the Irishmen should 
be placed in a separate camp, where they would be better 
fed and treated differently from the Englishmen. He further 
stated that subsequently they went in a body to the com- 
mandant, and said they did not wish to have any different 
treatment from their compatriots. 

C. B. V. 

December 24th, 1914. 



NOTE 



ON ACCOUNT of the absence of the 
author in Russia for an undetermined 
period, and the lack of his personal attention 
to the proofreading, many errors have crept in- 
to the text. This was also in part due to the 
publication being under stress. The paragraph 
on the middle of page 128, concerning officers, 
is out of place andbelongsatthe end of the chapter. 

The following substitutions and corrections in 
the proof should have been made: 

P. 55, Line 26, "Metres" for "feet". 

P. 95, Line 15, Omit "colonel". 

P. 100, Line 17, "Cited" for "sited". 

P. 106, Line 26, "Cottbus" for "Cottbas". 

P. 109, Line 31, Insert "from" at beginning of line. 

P. 119, Line 15, "Blinding" for "binding". 

P. 129, Line 27, "Would" for "will". 

P. 130, Line 23, "Maxim" for "Maximum". 

P. 163, Line 8, Paragraph heading, "Industrial" 

for "Industrious". 

P. 166, Line 24, Substitute "per cent" for "cents" . 

P. 204, Line 15, "Ingolstadt" for " Ingaldstadt" . 

P. 212, Line 18, "Pfennigs" for "francs". 

P. 261, Line 15, "D'oex" for "D'oux". 

P. 267, Line 26, "Burg-Frieden" for "Burger- 

Frieden" 



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